


The Return

by Fmfan1980



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Stargate - All Series
Genre: Drama, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2018-08-19 21:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 147,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8225729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fmfan1980/pseuds/Fmfan1980
Summary: This is an alternate future AU to my 'An Extraordinary Journey' story. Atlantis detects an attacking force of unknown vessels heading for Earth, and a ship is sent from Pegasus to help in the planet's defence. Is this the beginning of a new friendship between two superpowers, or just a one off encounter to protect the ancestral home of Humanity? (A BtVS, SG-1, Star Trek X-over)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, locations or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, BSG: 2003, and the Star Trek Francise. This is just a work of fiction. I own nothing. Each of the shows, characters (except for any OC's) and plots belong to their respective networks. All I'm doing is playing in the universe that the creators have created. All reviews are welcome.
> 
> A/N: This story takes place just before the events as seen on Star Trek DS9 (s07e20), and is an AU of the future I'll be writing for my story, 'An Extraordinary Journey' eventually. This story contains crossovers between BtVS, SG-1, a small mention of BSG (2003) and Star Trek. I'd love any, and all reviews and feedback. This is a story I had to get out of my head after it was suggested to me, so here it is. Cheers, and hope you readers enjoy.
> 
> A/N #2: In case anyone reading this story is unfamilliar with the first part involving Willow, please read Chapters 106 to 110, 'The Story of Athena' in An Extraordinary Journey for background on Athena.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters, locations or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, BSG: 2003, and the Star Trek Francise. This is just a work of fiction. I own nothing. Each of the shows, characters (except for any OC's) and plots belong to their respective networks. All I'm doing is playing in the universe that the creators have created. All reviews are welcome.

**A/N:** This story takes place just before the events as seen on Star Trek DS9 (s07e20), and is an AU of the future I'll be writing for my story, 'An Extraordinary Journey' eventually. Thanks goes to hamburger73 for suggesting this story. This story contains crossovers between BtVS, SG-1, a mention of BSG (2003), and Star Trek. I may have made some mistakes with the Star Trek side of things, so I'd love any, and all reviews and feedback. This is a story I had to get out of my head after it was suggested to me, so here it is. Cheers, and hope you readers enjoy.

**A/N #2:** In case anyone reading this story is unfamilliar with the first part involving Willow, please read Chapters 106 to 110 (The Story of Athena) in 'An Extraordinary Journey' for background on Athena.

**The City of Atlantis, Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy, 2375.**

"Out of the way! Out of the way!" yelled the five foot, five-inch-tall blonde woman in a blue jumpsuit who was rushing past throngs of people walking up and down the hallways of the city. Reaching one of the teleportation 'elevators', she stepped in and then pressed the blue outline of the central tower's top floor on the screen as a panel slid up. The doors then closed, and she was awash in a bright white light which soon faded away and the doors opened again. She then rushed out into the new hallway past several people, and then up a set of stairs that led to a platform where two SG teams were already preparing themselves to head out on a mission through the Stargate. She nodded at the people in the two groups as the wormhole activated before heading up the central stairs to Stargate Operations. She rushed past the men and women behind the consoles, and towards the glass walled office that lay in front of her.

And then she knocked on the door.

"Colonel, come in," said the woman with faded red hair behind a desk as she stood up after putting away a picture frame she was holding. She placed that frame on the left side of her desk and then, with a smile on her face, walked around her table. She then motioned for the young Colonel to take a seat on one of the three couches in the office, "you said there was something you needed to show me?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the Colonel as she handed her a file that had embossed on it a circle floating over a triangle. Opening the folder, the older, red-haired woman looked through the pictures and the data on the pieces of paper before looking back up at the Colonel once again.

"Are you sure about this?" asked the red-haired woman, "they're heading for Earth?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the Colonel nodding her head as the redhead closed the folder and leaned back on her seat, "twenty ships using their Spatial Distortion drive and…"

"Warp, Lisa," said the redhead, "remember the TV shows you used to watch with Xander?"

The young woman smiled before saying that she still couldn't believe what some of their cultural experts had to say on the matter of what had been happening in the Milky way over the past three hundred and forty-five years. The both of them were very aware that nearly three hundred and five years had gone by in the rest of the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies while, thanks to Asgard time dilation technology, only a little over nine hundred and fifteen years had passed on selected planets and colonies of the Tau'ri and their allies. This was all thanks to the Ori Supergate technology, which used black holes as a power source, being harvested from the Milky Way and taken to Pegasus. The technology was adapted to power the Asgard time dilation devices that were scattered throughout the Pegasus galaxy on the surface of various planets in several systems. The primary device was located close to the super-massive black-hole in the center of the Pegasus galaxy, and connected to all the others through a subspace link.

Once the signal was given, the devices were activated together, and placed the planets within a time dilation field. To prevent the Wraith from attacking the Tau'ri and their allies who traveled to Pegasus, the cloaking device created by Merlin was duplicated with help from the Asgard. Thanks to the Tau'ri being able to access the ZPM production facilities in Pegasus, the new Merlin devices were recreated, tagged, and then connected to a ZPM. The end product was loaned to New Athos, Kobol, Koranis, New Eden, and several other allied worlds which were being placed in time dilation as well. All the new devices were connected by a subspace link that would remotely activate each and every device at once. Once the planets were hidden from the Wraith, the Tau'ri and their allies started work unhindered; both on understanding Ancient Technology from the Ancient database in Atlantis, and using that understanding and knowledge create a force that would wipe out the Wraith and bring peace to Pegasus.

However, not all worlds could be protected. Placing these planets into time dilation meant that the Tau'ri and their allies had to back away from the galaxy reluctantly so that they could build up their forces without being constantly attacked by the Wraith, just as the Lanteans were over ten thousand years ago before forfeiting the war and moving back to Earth. Therefore, there were still many human worlds that were left open to the Wraith; and they were the ones who provided sustenance for some of the Wraith while others went on forced hibernation. Soon, all of the Wraith went into hibernation, and the human population flourished once again. It would be every century that the Wraith would wake up to find a galaxy brimming with repopulated humans; and they would feed before going back to sleep once again.

During the over three hundred years in real time that the Tau'ri and their allies were missing, the Wraith had no idea what happened. A fleet travelled to Lantea only to find it gone. They scanned the empty space and was perplexed at the disappearance on an entire planet. Even Proculus had vanished. Believing that the ones they called Lanteans must have destroyed Lantea before leaving for another area of space, or the galaxy itself in Atlantis, the Wraith had no complaints as they went back to feeding on a galaxy full of unprotected human beings.

As for the humans in Pegasus, they knew the stories of people from a place called Atlantis; but those soon passed into myth and legend. The Wraith would never know this, but the time dilation devices and the cloaking devices were deactivated for the first time three years before Zephram Cochran's warp flight. It was then that six Aurora class Tau'ri ships, three Asgard O'Neill class vessels, and two Mercury class Kobolian vessels jumped out of hyperspace into the orbit of Earth while cloaked. The ships, one of which was under the command of General Cameron Mitchel, fired multiple missiles into the atmosphere of the planet. The missiles blew up once they reached the atmosphere and released nanites into the air; the nanites were only meant to clean up the radiation from the nuclear war and pollution in the atmosphere, and were programmed to become inert and disintegrate a year later. Once the nanites had begun their work, the ships returned to the Pegasus galaxy. The ships then returned to their planets of Origin, and the time dilation field and the Merlin devices were activated once again.

The second time the time dilation devices were turned off, was during a mission to place cloaked satellites around the Sol system to keep an eye on Earth. At the same time, the ships that were placing the satellites were taking long range scans of the Earth to make sure that radiation levels were at a normal range. Once the cloaked, and phased, satellites were place in space, the ships returned to Atlantis. It would be much later, once the time dilation devices were down for the final time, that the Mid-Way station was repurposed as an Alliance research station that contained a Tau'ri listening post keeping tabs on Earth and the Milky Way galaxy.

It would be during a Wraith culling forty years ago that the Merlin devices were deactivated, as well as the time dilation devices, for the final time. The Wraith were then faced with a force that were not only technologically advanced as the Lanteans, the monsters were also faced with nearly the same number of ships as them. The Wraith went on a rapid cloning program, and the Pegasus Alliance – Wraith War began.

And it had all led to this point; the end of the Wraith domination of the galaxy.

"Well, Daniel did say that there are cultures which believe dreams are in fact a doorway into a possible future," said Willow leaning forward, "he thinks that the similarities between what we saw when placing the cloaked satellites in the Sol System are a result of the creators of the shows finding a way to break, and then travel, through the space-time barrier in their sleep. It's nothing Ancienty or supernatural; just something that happens."

"But of course it's only a theory, right ma'am?" asked the Colonel.

"Yep, just a theory," the redhead nodded her head before looking down at the pictures of the ships with a distorted bubble around them, "but given the pictures we have of the ships during that first mission, the NX class Columbia, and the NX class Enterprise? I think there's some truth in the theory. Plus, the galaxy is huge, we weren't able to travel to every single planet in the galaxy… so we would have missed the Vulcans, Romulans, and such, although I wonder if they are even called that. Think about it, names and situations on the shows could have been changed for dramatic effect. Anyway, I doubt these races know anything about the Ancients either. I know I didn't hear anything about Vulcans, Klingons, or even Bajorans after returning to Earth from Atlantis. I guess with the loss of the Goa'uld, the Nox being in isolation, the Asgard rebuilding their civilization with us in Pegasus and Ida, as well as the Jaffa, Tok'ra, and the Kobolians coming with us to Pegasus, and the real Furlings being… well, gone… it's given the other races in the Milky Way more of a role."

"That's possible," said the Colonel as she leaned back while looking at the folder, and then back up at the redhead, "what are your orders, ma'am?"

"We can't help them fight their war, Lisa," said the redhead as she leaned forward, "we still have our problems here with a small remnant of the Wraith left to fight; other than that, we're still exploring Pegasus and reintroducing ourselves to the population on several planets. And let's not forget, we're still working with the Asgard and the Tollan remnant that arrived thirty five years ago on getting to the Destiny."

"I know we're nearly at a time of peace, General," said Lisa, "but my ship is ready to go at a moment's notice, and…"

"Lisa," said the redhead shaking her head, "we still have this last big battle to fight; Admiral Adama will be meeting the Persephone, the Vantage, and the Sunnydale with the Galactica and the Atlantia in two days for what could very well be the final assault on the final three planets that have Wraith cloning facilities. And Tok'ra intel says that one of those planets is the Wraith's primary facility for growing their Hive ships."

"Then we have time, General. My generation have only heard the stories, Aunt Willow," whispered Lisa as she leaned forward before looking out through the glass wall and into Stargate Operations. She then turned to Willow who pulled her lips back at her; and Lisa knew she overstepped her bounds, "sorry, ma'am. I didn't mean to bring our personal relationship into this request, but I've heard the stories of Earth, stories of mom and dad's adventures with you and grandpa Giles and Aunt Faith; stories of… I mean… you guys saving the world. Fighting vampires, demons, aliens. I mean you guys saved the world in High School, so please, Ma'am. The Persephone is in orbit, let me take her to the Milky Way. We're talking about the defence of our ancestral home, your home… the Tau'ri's original homeworld."

"The Persephone and the Vantage are the latest Aurora class ships we have, Lisa," explained Willow, "we need you on the front line and…"

"It'll take us about half a day to reach the Milky Way," pleaded Lisa, "and if you're worried about Starfleet, heh… still can't believe the similarities, anyway… they can't follow us through sub-space, ma'am. Even if they somehow had a way to track us? Getting to Pegasus is going to take them a very, very, very long time, we'll be in the clear."

The General leaned back and looked into the pleading eyes of the young woman sitting in front of her. She then looked out of the glass walls at the people behind the consoles, and then back at Lisa who was grinning and nodding her head excitedly.

"You are your father's daughter," smiled Willow before she rubbed her hands together.

"I'll talk to the President," the General continued, "and if she agrees, then I'll let you go."

"What are the odds that she'll say yes?" asked Lisa.

"Given that the combined forces of the Tau'ri, Asgard, Free Jaffa, Tok'ra, and the Kobolians have nearly decimated the Wraith?" Said Willow as she stood up, as did Lisa, "maybe Cordelia will say 'yes'; but no promises."

"Understood, ma'am," smiled Lisa as she and Willow stood in the latter's office. There was a sudden beep that made Lisa raise her wrist while pushing back her long sleeve; she looked at the screen of the curved device on her wrist before looking up at Willow once again, telling her that she was supposed to be meeting her parents for lunch.

"Give Buffy and Xander my love," said Willow as Lisa put her hand down and nodded her head.

Willow and Lisa walked out of the office together, the redhead gently pushing the younger woman forward while telling her to prepare her ship after lunch. While Willow watched Lisa run down the stairs, she asked the communications officer to contact the President's office in Lumeria, and to direct the call to her earpiece. As the officer nodded his head, Willow walked out towards the larger main balcony behind Stargate Operations and leaned on the railing as she looked out towards the ocean.

And remembered what brought them to this point in time.

It was back in 2014 that the redhead, due to her being the descended Ancient once known as Athena, one of the last two living Ancients, had entrusted full Councillor access to the Atlantis Database to Dr. Elizabeth Weir on the orders of the IOA. Willow trusted the woman to make the right decisions on the dangerous technology contained in the Atlantis database. However, unknown to Willow or to the SGC, the IOA had other ideas. With the Trust loose on Earth, and with the 'so-called' final Ba'al clone they had killed being a ruse, the IOA needed something game-changing to hunt down the Trust, any Goa'uld on earth, and to create soldiers that would fight in the wars that were still raging on Earth.

Eventually, the IOA appropriated the proposals that Willow made when she was Athena more than ten thousand years ago; the creation of the Living Weapons that were supposed to have been used against the Wraith, complete with their genetic bomb set to go off once their jobs were completed. It was that same research which was used as a base for genetic therapies that were meant to extend the human lifespan. By the year 2025, disease and sickness was eradicated, and the human lifespan was theorized to be extended to a little over two hundred years.

While the Stargate program was never made public knowledge, the real truth behind the breakthrough in regards to this great genetic 'cure' for aging and health was given a cover story. Back on Atlantis, as Willow spoke to Cordelia on her earpiece, she recalled that SGC and Homeworld Command personnel including herself and Faith were given the genetic therapy. The genetic therapy was then given to the personnel of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Investigation led by Cordelia and Angel, and then to the personnel of Area 51, and then to selected world leaders. Eventually, this was made available to the public, at a price.

While the pharmaceutical companies were making billions upon billions of dollars over the genetic therapy, the SGC and Homeworld Command were kept completely out of the loop on the creation of the living weapons, the precursors to the Slayers. It would be only when the clones had massacred entire villages of innocents; a total of nearly six hundred and forty men, women, and children, that the IOA admitted that something had gone wrong to an outrage Homeworld Command.

Back on the balcony in Atlantis, Willow finished talking to Cordelia on her earpiece and took a deep breath while remembering the day she was called to General Landry's office at the Pentagon. She was in disbelief upon hearing that her living weapon research was used on Earth; that her living weapons… beings with enhanced speed, strength, healing, durability, and genetic memories concerning all forms of armed and unarmed combat, were let loose on Earth against unsuspecting people. She was further horrified to learn that all the safe guards, including the genetic bombs, she had set in place were unwittingly stripped away when the IOA scientists tampered with the clones genetic code.

And on top of all that, fifteen clones were missing.

The General told Willow, who slumped onto her seat in shock, that the IOA believed that a mole from the Trust infiltrated them, discovered information on the living weapons program, and stole the clones to harvest their genetic code. Homeworld Command was aware that the real Ba'al was still out there somewhere, and he had knowledge of Asgard cloning technology which was stolen from Anubis, who in return stole the data on the cloning process when he accessed Thor's mind several years ago.

And thus, the end began.

Back in the present day, Willow shook her head as she turned and headed back through the doors of the balcony, and into Stargate Operations. She walked to the edge of the floor, placed her hand on the railing and stared at the Stargate below while pressing down on the ear-piece. She connected herself to Lisa, telling her that the Persephone was approved to head to the Milky Way.

**Persephone, Bridge, Orbit of Lantea, one and a half hours later.**

Lisa Summers, the youngest daughter of the Slayer, Buffy Summers, and Xander Harris, was beamed onto the bridge of her ship, the Persephone. The two-thousand-meter long ship was the latest ship, just of the line, utilizing the latest in Ancient and Asgard hybrid technology. The hull was covered with twenty-five energy pulse turrets for full three hundred and sixty-degree coverage, and six Ancient plasma beam cannons developed thanks to the database that was recovered from the Death Valley outpost during the exodus from Earth. The Death Valley outpost was then destroyed using a Mark Seven nuclear weapon so that the Trust developed augmented living weapons that had begun a war against humanity would never discover the technology that existed. The data was then combined with the data in the Atlantis database to create the new Tau'ri built Ancient-Asgard hybrid technologies.

AS Lisa stepped into the bridge, she looked out the large window, and out into space before taking her seat on the command chair. She reached to the left and pressed a button, connecting to the PA system throughout the ship.

"Attention," said Lisa as everyone on the ship stopped what they were doing, "we have a special mission before meeting with Task Force Omega tomorrow. Atlantis has received word from Mid-Way station that an enemy force is about to reach Earth. Yes, you heard me correctly… Earth. As in the original Tau'ri homeworld."

At the mention of Earth, many of the crew of three hundred looked at each other in surprise, while others mumbled about the planet they had only heard about or seen in images.

"This ship is the most advanced in the fleet," said Lisa, "and we will prove it today. There are twenty enemy vessels heading for Earth orbit using a Spatial Distortion drive and they are currently less than eleven hours away from Earth. From what we're able to tell, there is a war going on at this moment in one corner of the Milky Way, and our only mission is the protection of Earth from this particular threat. Our ancestral home is being targeted, and from what we can tell, Earth forces are unaware of what's coming since all their ships are still out in deep space. I have spoken with General Rosenberg, and our orders are to stop the coming attack on Earth using deadly force if necessary, and then once our jobs have been completed, we have been ordered to leave and return to Pegasus for our final push against the Wraith tomorrow. But for now, everyone to battle stations."

Back on the bridge, Lisa leaned back on her chair and looked out the large window at the front.

"How long till we reach Earth orbit?" she asked.

"A little over eleven hours, ma'am," was the reply.

"ZPM's are locked," was another reply, and then another officer said that drone silo's were at full capacity, while another said that all weapon turrets were ready to fire.

"Set a course for Earth," said Lisa as she held onto the arm-rests of her command chair, "and get us into hyperspace."

Over Lantea, the Persephone fired her engines and banked to the port side before accelerating into a tear that opened right in front of it. Once she was through the hyperspace window, the tear closed while Willow was in Stargate Operation looking at a monitor of the Persephone flying through hyperspace.

"Good-luck," whispered Willow before ordering one of her officers to dial M7T-876. She walked past the consoles saying that she needed to talk to the O'Neill's, Faith, and Dawn as the Stargate activated.

**Starfleet Command, Earth, twelve hours later.**

It was only an hour ago that Admiral Paris was notified of a group of twenty Breen ships heading towards Earth at Warp. Rushing into the command center, he ordered all nearby ships return to Earth orbit... however, the closest vessel was the Enterprise which was an hour away at maximum Warp. However, the Admiral was aware that even though it would take an hour for it to return to Earth orbit at maximum warp, there was no way to know if the ship could make it in time to prevent the attack.

"Recall the Enterprise, and any other nearby ships to Earth," ordered the Admiral, "and activate all planetary defences. We'll hold them off for as long as possible."

It was an hour later, with the Enterprise only five minutes away, that Admiral Paris was staring at a screen that showed twenty purple coloured ships jumping out of Warp and holding steady over the planet. It was a few seconds later that the officer to the Admiral's left turned and said that the ships had begun firing.

"Return Fire!" ordered the Admiral as orbital phaser emplacements from the McKinley dry-dock station begun firing phasers at the ships, in combination with energy bursts from surface cannons near Starfleet command in San Francisco. All of the weapons were deflected by the Breen ships as they returned fire. The Admiral felt the ground tremble when the cannons were destroyed in the distance with his being told that the McKinley station was now being targeted and half of the Breen ships had broken off to attack the station, which was now firing quantum torpedoes which hit the Breen shields while the alien ships performed evasive manoeuvres and returned fire. The Admiral looked on as more surface cannons opened fire against the ships in orbit, just as his attention was called to another screen.

"Sir?" said the lieutenant who was pointed at a blue hued tear in space. The Admiral looked on in surprise as a large ship accelerated out and headed towards the McKinley station.

"Ship does not match any configuration in the Federation database, sir," said an officer when another one stood up among the voice communications form the commander of the McKinley station asking Starfleet command if anyone knew what was going on. The officer who had stood up earlier then ran up to the Admiral, and told him that a message was coming through on an open subspace frequency.

"On speakers," whispered the Admiral as he looked at the strange ship that was just hanging in space. Even the Breen ships had stopped firing on the planet below and at the station, it was as if everyone was trying to size up the newcomers.

"My name is Colonel Lisa Summers of the Tau'ri warship Persephone," said the female voice as everyone listening in. The Admiral immediately turned to another officer and ordered her to cross-reference that name and Tau'ri with the Federation and Starfleet databases. The young woman nodded her head while another officer told the Admiral that the Universal Translator indicated that the woman was speaking English. But before the Admiral could say anything else, Lisa continued, "unknown vessels, you are to cease and desist this unprovoked attack immediately. Failure to…"

It was then that the Admiral looked on as the twenty Breen ships started to attack the larger threat, the Persephone.

"This is Admiral Paris to McKinley station, fire all phasers and Photon torpedoes at the Breen," the Admiral said the order as a whispered voice came through the speakers.

"I did warn them," whispered Lisa before ordering that all weapons open fire at the Breen ships. The Persephone opened fire at the Breen ships; the red coloured bursts of energy from the energy pulse turrets, and the green coloured Ancient beam weapons firing out at the Breen ships. The pulse weapons hit the shields of some of the Breen ships, causing the energy bubble surrounding them to flare and then collapse as the shield generators inside the alien ships exploded. Lisa got off her command chair, walked past the consoles on the bridge in front of her, and then stopped at the large window that looked out at the ongoing battle. She saw trail of energy bursts heading towards a Breen ship while another ship exploded after having been hit by a second pulse of energy from the turrets. She saw another ship get hit by one red pulse, and then the shield collapsed before being hit once more by another red energy pulse resulting in the ship being obliterated in space. She then looked up at another ship getting hit by the green Ancient energy beam; the shield flared for a millisecond before it collapsed, and the beam went through the hull of the ship. This was soon followed by another beam through the same ship as it listed to port before exploding in space.

"Five have broken off and are firing a weapon at the station, ma'am," said an officer from behind her who was running a scan on the station itself, "the blasts are hitting the shields around the station and... ma'am, they're losing power."

"It's some kind of an energy dampening weapon," said another officer from behind as Lisa looked over her shoulder, and then at another two ships exploding as the Ancient beams cut through their shields and hulls, the resulting explosion reflecting off her face. In the meantime, all the people in the Control Center at Starfleet Command could do was look on with stunned expressions on their faces at what was happening right above them.

"Destroy the ships attacking the station," said Lisa as she looked out at the planet below, "and get me a detailed scan on the weapon they're using against us and the station. I want to know everything about it. Once we have everything, prepare to send a databurst of the results to the planet below."

"Colonel," said one of the officers as the ship started to shake slightly, the blue energy blasts from the remaining evasive Breen ships causing the shield to flare in a golden brown hue, "shields are still at full power, ma'am."

"Open a line to the remaining... wait, how many ships?" asked Lisa.

"Five, ma'am," came the reply as she walked past the officer while and sat on the chair. He then turned back to his console and opened hailing frequencies, "ready, ma'am."

Lisa had the Persephone hold all fire while the remaining Breen ships continued their attack on the larger vessel. She told the weapons officer to fire at the ships only if they were attacking the station, and then she turned to another officer and nodded her head.

"Subspace frequencies are open, ma'am," said the young woman.

"Unknown vessels," said Lisa while McKinley station continued to fire at the Breen using their phasers at fifty percent of their normal power thanks to the effects of the dampening weapon; while the Breen continued to fire their energy dampening weapon at the Persephone's shields, to no effect, "you have seen this vessel's firepower and shielding. Cease and desist immediately, and surrender to Earth authorities. You have five seconds to stop firing on us and at the station, power down your vessels, and wait to be boarded."

The Breen ships broke off and were simply flying around the Persephone while searching for a weak point on the newcomer's shields using their scanners.

"If you do not surrender your ships to the Earth authorities," said Lisa, "you can choose to leave orbit and leave. Just know that the Tau'ri are watching this planet. Any unprovoked attack, and we will return to defend this place. So, you have a simple choice... surrender or leave. You have ten seconds to comply."

"McKinley Station," said Admiral Paris from the Control Room, "cease fire."

"Sir?" asked the Commander in charge of the station while he signaled the officer behind him stop firing the phasers, "I..."

"You've seen what just happened," said the Admiral while he recalled the sight of a green energy beam smashing through the shields of a few Breen ships, "let's see how this plays out. Conserve what energy remains, and send us a damage report."

"Understood, sir," said the Commander while Admiral Paris turned his attention back to the screen that showed the Breen ships flying around the Persephone in a pattern. He then looked over at another officer and asked him about the location of the Enterprise.

"Twenty seconds out, sir," came the reply before the Admiral turned towards the screen once again, while thinking to himself, 'who are the Tau'ri?'

"Colonel," said one of the officers on the bridge of the Persephone after the communications channel was closed, allowing Lisa to turn to the young man, "we have another ship incoming."

Just as the newest ship, the Enterprise, came out of Warp, the Breen ships accelerated away from the Persephone, and targeted the Enterprise instead. Lisa watched as the ships fired at the Enterprise; her shields flaring upon getting hit by the energy dampening weapon. Lisa shook her head before sending another message to the Breen, "alien vessels, this is your final warning. Cease fire."

"Sir!" came the voice of chief engineer Geordie LaForge as the Enterprise started to shake after getting hit by the streaks of blue energy from the Breen ship, "we have a problem! Whatever's being fired on us is playing havoc with the Warp Core. Power is down to seventy eight percent."

"Commander Data," said the Captain of the Enterprise to the android seated on the port side console, "fire phasers and quantum torpedoes on the Breen ships, and run scans on the unknown vessel."

"Understood," said Data as all of the Enterprise's weapons were being fired at the Breen. The Enterprise's phaser and torpedoes were hitting the shields of the remaining Breen ships while Lisa shook her head. She then ordered that the remaining alien ships be targeted.

"And fire," ordered Lisa as the Persephone opened fire. The green plasma beams cut through the shields of two Breen vessels while the Enterprise's phasers disabled another Breen ship that had its shield collapse after being hit with an energy burst, followed a few seconds later by another energy burst that destroyed the ship. All in all, the skirmish had been only a few seconds long, the Persephone cutting the last ship in half before it could engage it's warp drive.

"I am guessing that the unknown ship is on our side," said Commander William Riker, looking at the Persephone through the viewscreen, once the battle was over.

"What just happened?" asked a suprrised Councillor Deanna Troi as she got off her seat and walked up to the Commander. The both of them glanced at the expression of surprise on Captain Picard's face after having witnessed the firepower of the unknown vessel. They then looked at the floating chunks of debris that had once been the Breen ships and wondered who the newcomers were, and why they came to protect Earth.

No one really knew what to say, or think.

At least until Captain Picard shook his head and ordered hailing frequencies be opened, that the mysterious ship needed to be contacted while scanning McKinley Station for any injuries.

"Unknown vessel, this is Captain Jean Luc-Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. We thank you for helping us defeat this enemy, perhaps we could open talks to…"

"Captain Picard," said Lisa as her heart raced while remembering the shows she watched with Xander, 'the name is the same but… oh God don't tell me he looks like the actor and… okay, Lisa.. calm down… just calm down… although you know your dad is gonna kill you when you go home and… oh, oh, I need to answer.'

"Captain Picard," said Lisa as she pushed her thoughts to the back of her head, "my name is Colonel Lisa Summers of the Tau'ri, I'm the commander of the Persephone."

"Colonel," said Captain Picard while Riker was telling Data to beam all the personnel from the McKinley station to Starfleet medical on the surface. In the meantime, everyone on the Persephone was looking out any window they could find at the planet below. The only time they had seen Earth was on books, drawings, and pictures ever since they were young.. but now they were looking down at their ancestral home. Lisa was standing at the bridge window once again, looking at the planet below as well together with her bridge crew before she ordered everyone back to their stations while Picard was asking her if she would join him at Starfleet Command to talk.

"As much as I would like to, Captain," said Lisa as she continued to look down at the world below as the North American continent was passing by. She found California, and wondered what Sunnydale would be like now, before she got back to answering Captain Picard, "I have to head back home. We detected the twenty alien ships coming towards Earth, and we had to protect the planet. Now that the attack's been neutralised, we need to get back to our own war."

"Starfleet is not aware of any other war in the Alpha Quadrant," said Picard while Admiral Paris listened in from the Command Center, it was just then that the Admiral was handed a PADD which showed no records, living or dead, of a Colonel Lisa Summers in the Federation Database, nor were there any records of the word 'Tau'ri'. Back on the Enterprise, Captain Picard's eyes narrowed in confusion while his mind was trying to sift through any skirmish that was running parallel to the ongoing war with the Dominion. Before he could finish his thoughts, Data looked up at him and said that there were no other major wars taking place in the Alpha Quadrant. Picard nodded his head before looking back at the view-screen and wondered where the ship came from.

"Colonel," said the Captain, "which sector of space are you from? I have to admit that your ship's configuration is not something I recognize."

"Let's just say we're from a far off place," chuckled Lisa, adding to Picard and Riker's confusion, "we just dropped by to protect a few friends."

"It is good manners for friends who have never met before to... well, actually meet," said the Captain.

"Like I said, Captain," replied Lisa, "we have our own war to fight. I'm just glad we were able to make it in time."

"There is a war that has engulfed this quadrant, Colonel," said the Captain while Data was telling Riker that the power readings coming from the ship were strange, "Starfleet needs all the allies it can get."

"I will have to talk to my superiors, Captain," replied Lisa as an officer approached her saying that they were ready to send the scans of the energy dampening weapon. Lisa shook her head before telling him to send a databurst to the Enterprise. Once the young man walked away, she looked out the window while telling Captain Picard that a subspace databurst was being sent to his ship.

"We have it, Captain," said Riker as he looked down at the LCARS console.

"We've sent you scans of an enemy dampening weapon that was used against us and your ship," said Lisa, "hopefully it would be useful."

"Thank you," said the Captain as the Persephone started to move away from the Enterprise.

"Good luck in your war, Captain," said Lisa as she sat on her seat, "maybe we'll meet in person one day. Until then, goodbye."

"Goodbye," whispered the Captain as a breach in space opened up, and the Persephone accelerated into it. Once the breach was sealed, the surprised bridge personnel watched just happened while Data was tapping away at the console in front of him before looking back up at the Captain after he asked if everything had been recording.

"Yes, sir," said Data.

"That wasn't Warp," said Riker who was still looking out into space on the view screen.

"Before the breach was sealed, our sensors detected an unknown form of subspace radiation," said Data, "and there was a massive energy burst to open a tear into subspace, fascinating."

"Who has the technology to do something like that?" asked Troi.

"We can ask if we see each other again," said the Captain as he continued to look at the spot where the Persephone vanished into subspace.

To be continued.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I may be wrong in the section about transwarp drive. From what I read in the Wikia, Starfleet failed at achieving transwarp - and have yet to be successful on a field test. If i am, then please someone let me know so that I could correct it.

**Air Force Academy Hospital, Colorado Springs, 2025.**

Willow was pacing the floor, her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyes red from tears, at the Air Force Hospital waiting room. It was a few minutes later that General O'Neill rushed in with the current head of Homeworld Command, General Landry, who was visiting General O'Neill who had moved back to Colorado Spring following his retirement and marriage to the current commander of the SGC, General Samantha Carter; followed by Dawn and Jon, and hugged the redhead.

"Red?" asked Jon as Willow pulled back from General O'Neill before Dawn hugged her tight, "what happened?"

Willow told them that the Trust seemed to have been successful with the living weapons research, that they had created genetically engineered living weapons that managed to infiltrate them from the inside.

"I… I don't know how.. how they got in but.. but they did," said Willow as she wiped tears while nurses and doctors were running around from one room to another, "It… I… I was only a few minutes by car…. A few minutes away, and…"

"Easy, easy," said General Landry as he placed a hand on Willow's shoulder.

"Once I got to the seventh floor, I.. I... saw the dead officers and the busted camera, and… then I heard the alarm go off," said Willow shaking her head, "I called NORAD and told them we had a code red situation, and I then called for the elevator but… but there was no luck. I used my T.K to pry the elevator doors open and… and there was a hole on the bottom of the car… the.. the Trust clones punched through the floor of the car and made it down the shaft. I.. I don't know how they were so fast, but… but by the time I got into the….."

"Red," said General O'Neill as he held onto Willow's shoulders while she lowered her head and wiped her eyes, "how many clones?"

"Ten clones," mumbled Willow as her voice broke. She coughed and then looked back up, "they… they started from the twenty eighth floor. I… I floated down to the twenty-eight floor and saw that the elevator doors were ripped open. I.. I think they were already in there for five minutes and… and I.. I don't know why it took so long for the alarms to go off and… oh God. The hallway had… had bodies and.. and I heard gunshots and screams. I ran and… and saw one of them break Walter's neck."

"Oh God," said General Landry.

"I… I killed the clone," said Willow, "used my T.K to break his neck before going after the others."

"Carter and Faith?" asked General O'Neill as he recalled the young woman in front of him calling him in an hysterical voice that something happened at the SGC, and that both General Carter and Faith were badly injured, among others. But before Willow could say anything, she saw a young blonde haired girl running towards them with a bald man next to her.

"Aunt Willow! Jack! Where's mom?"

"Debbie," said Willow as she hugged General Carter's daughter tightly, "she's… she's still critical but… but the doctors said that she's going to be alright, she's going to be alright."

"Willow?" asked Jacob, in a panicked voice, as the redhead looked up at the man while Debra hugged General O'Neill tight, "your call was.."

"There was an attack," said General Landry as he looked at Jacob and then at Debra who lifted her head and then turned her body towards the current head of Homeworld Command, "the clones that were stolen by the Trust were used to create more living weapons. I.. I guess they knew the SGC was a threat and… and now… by the time Colonel Rosenberg and two other teams managed to kill all ten of the clones… they had already killed fifty-five personnel, and injured forty."

"Including Faith and General Carter," said Willow, "they ripped off Faith's arm, and… and broke several of General Carter's bones by beating her and then throwing her through two windows; her office and the briefing room window in one throw. At least I think so… I caught her just before she hit the Gateroom floor."

"Oh God," said Debra as she placed her hand over her mouth while Jacob rushed to her side, holding onto her with General O'Neill. Willow continued to say that it was thanks to the genetic therapy that General Carter hadn't died immediately from her wounds.

"The clone that threw her is dead," said Willow before telling them that she rushed back down to the control room, and down the stairs where Faith was hunched against the wall unconscious after the redhead used her bio-electric abilities to cauterise the wound to stop blood flow from her shoulder, "I healed what I could after checking up on Faith, but… but the other clones were in the base and…"

"You did what you could," said Jacob, "Sam and Faith are still alive."

"Critical, but alive," said Willow nodding her head.

"And Faith?" asked Jon.

"The surgeons are attaching one of our new prosthetic limbs," said Willow before she took a deep breath, and then continued to speak, "the carbon-trinium-naquada alloy version that Area 51 is working on."

"Are they all dead?" asked Debra, her hand rolled into a fist.

"The clones? Yeah," said Willow, "they're all dead. Some of the survivors and I then disabled the anti-beaming technology in the base and had the Prometheus Station beam us out. The Prometheus, Europa, and the Shen Long are already searching for the other clones."

"I've already notified the President, the Security Council, the BPRI, and Area 51," said General Landry, "We've got Angel, and Spike getting ready to sniff out, literally, anything on recent transfers at those bases. They're checking out the BPRI, which just went on lock-down, with four Slayers."

"How… how did they get through?" asked Debra shaking her head.

"It's possible that they got through our defences using cloaked ships," said General Landry, "that's our weakness, we still don't have way to detect cloaked vessels."

"I recommend activating Directive One, Hank," said General O'Neill as he looked at General Landry. Homeworld Command Directive One was an order that, once activated, would require the President of the United States and his Cabinet, as well as their families, to be sent away to the Alpha site in case of alien invasion. The President would be in regular contact with Homeworld Command and the SGC from the off-world site through the IOA on Earth. Despite the IOA having been restructured due to the infiltration by the Trust, the relations between the organization and Homeworld Command and the SGC were still cool. But there was no choice, the IOA would have to be the intermediary between the civilian government and the military.

"And I want Red to be with whoever the IOA sends over," said General O'Neill, "no more micro-nullifiers that neutralise her abilities… this has gone too far now. Red will stay with whoever's assigned, occasionally scanning their minds to make sure we don't get screwed again."

"I agree," said General Landry nodding his head, "I'll talk with the President and the Joint Chiefs."

"Ummm…. Colonel Rosenberg?" asked a doctor as he walked out of a room. Willow and the others turned towards him as he told them that the injured General Carter was going to be alright; that her body, thanks to the genetic therapy and the Ancient gene, was already healing the internal injuries and broken bones after they had been reset.

"And Faith?" asked Willow while Debra hugged Jacob.

"She lost a lot of blood," said the doctor turning towards Willow, "but if you hadn't cauterized the wound when you did, then she'd be dead from blood loss. Right now, we're about to attach her nerves to her new arm, and… and we'll know almost immediately if it works. She, General Carter, and the rest of the survivors are still in critical condition; and we'll get a prognosis on their recovery when they wake-up, which we hope is by tomorrow night."

"Thank you, doc," said General O'Neill as Jacob put his hand on his shoulder while Debra hugged him.

The SGC was only the first salvo in two attacks that day. Once all sites were secured once again six months later, Directive One was rescinded and the President returned to Earth and took his place as the leader of the free world. But it wasn't over, unknown to anyone in the SGC or Homeworld Command, there would nuclear strikes six months later in various cities that would eventually collapse the world into death and destruction. At the same time as the attack on t he SGC, the BPRI was attacked just after the SGC, but that attack was thwarted by both Angel, Spike, and the Slayers who were ready for the clones.

The attacks that would take place a year later, the responsibility would initially be placed on terrorists from the middle-east, but the truth came out a few hours after the collapse of Big Ben and the destruction of the Houses of Parliament – an organization called The Brotherhood of Ba'al; terrorist cells of genetically augmented living weapons, transmitted a video over all remaining airwaves taking credit for the deaths and destruction caused by nuclear fire… and they promised more to come before sending their manifesto to every media outlet that remained on Earth.

Their creed? Augments were the future, death to the human race.

**USS Enterprise, geosynchronous orbit above Starfleet Command, an hour later; 2375.**

Captain Picard looked out the window of the briefing room at the ships that were orbiting the Earth. The Breen attack on Earth shook Starfleet to its core; it was an attack that no one in Starfleet Command had anticipated. Not even the Klingons had attempted to attack Earth directly during hostilities between the Empire and Starfleet. Then there was the case of the mysterious ship; Picard was still wondering where that ship had come from. He was unaware of any race, and Data confirmed, that had ships of that configuration or that form of warp drive; in fact, once the ship left, Data later told the Captain that he detected no form of warp drive on the ship. Leading the Captain to keep on wondering, while in his Ready Room writing his report, and now while looking out the window, at what space-faring civilization didn't use some form of warp drive. Turning around as the door behind him hissed open, the man nodded his head at his key personnel; Lt. Commander Data, Counsellor Troi, Commander Riker, and Lt. Commander La Forge who took their seats around the briefing room table. It was a few minutes later, while the Captain and the others were discussing the reports and what happened an hour ago with each other, did the same door open once again. The officers then stood up as Admiral Paris walked into the room with two escorts from the Enterprise.

"Thank you, Ensigns," said the Captain as Admiral Paris nodded his head at them. The two of them walked out of the briefing room, the door hissing closed behind them, while the Captain offered a seat to the Admiral and introduced everyone. Once everyone had seated down, the official briefing began.

"We have checked every Federation, Starfleet, and even Earth database," said Admiral Paris as he leaned forward, placing his arms on the table in front of him, "but there is no mention of any Colonel Lisa Summers, nor were there any mention of the word 'Tau'ri'."

"I have examined the language databases of every species on record," said Data as he looked at the Admiral, "there is none that mentions that specific word. However, our scanners did indicate human life signs aboard the Persephone."

"Data's correct," said Troi, "I sensed amazement, joy, and some anger from the people on board."

"Anger at what?" asked the Admiral.

"The Breen," said Troi shaking her head, "it's odd, almost as if they were angry that the Earth was being attacked. While a majority felt as if they were happy to be in orbit over Earth. I mean it's like the feelings one gets when returning to a place they've rarely seen, but have heard about… I… I can't explain it."

"Colonel Summers did mention that they've been watching Earth," said Riker as he looked around the table, "maybe there's a cloaked ship somewhere? Using the war as a distraction to watch the planet?"

"But to what end?" asked the Admiral, "why watch Earth? What's the purpose?"

"Are we talking about a possible invasion?" asked Troi in surprise, "I didn't get that feeling from the crew, if was more like a sense of relief. I didn't sense any ill intent."

"So not an invasion," said Riker, with Troi nodding her head, "but that still doesn't explain how easily they took on the Breen, and why we haven't heard anything from the Tau'ri, until now."

"The weapons they used were high intensity plasma beams," said Data, "and their power source is something I have not seen before, the output is.. fascinating."

"What's even stranger is the lack of any warp drive or a deflector dish," said Geordie.

"I believe I know the reason why the ships does not require a deflector dish," said Data as he pressed a button on the PADD in front of him, and then everyone turned to the forward screen as a schematic of the Persephone came up, "it's an unique alloy of carbon, and two other unknown metals. Combined, it creates a shield around the beings inside, protecting them against micrometeorite impacts and radiation. In addition, I have been able to detect an unknown form of subspace radiation emanating from the hull of the ship… the same radiation that we detected when the Persephone opened a breach before accelerating into it."

"They have a different form of faster than light propulsion?" asked Troi.

"Yes," Data replied, "somehow, these Tau'ri managed to open a breach that leads into a region of subspace."

"I always thought the power requirements for opening a breach was massive?" asked Riker, "we've had our own experiments into transwarp and those failed miserably. And here is a race that managed to travel through subspace?".

"It does need a massive amount of power," Geordie replied, "we've heard of subspace travel, but because of the power demands, we've failed in opening a breach. I would so love to take a look at their energy source."

"Perhaps we would be able to meet again," said the Captain.

"There are a lot of thing we need to talk about," said the Admiral, "but in regards to this situation involving the Persephone, we can hold it off until the end of the war. Right now, we have to concentrate on the data we were given by the Persephone."

The Admiral then turned to Captain Picard and asked him and his ship to remain in orbit over Earth for the next few days, that he wanted the expertise of Lt. Commander Laforge and Data to go through the specifications of the energy dampening weapon in order to find a viable defence against it.

"Understood, Admiral," Picard replied before getting onto the current state of the Dominion War.

**Deep Space, a hundred light years from planet M7T-603, twenty-three hours since Persephone left Lantea's orbit**.

A blue hued breach opened in space, and out of it accelerated the Persephone before it slowed down and turned to port, heading towards a fleet of ships; the Aurora-Class vessels Vantage, and Sunnydale; and two Colonial vessels, the new Mercury class Battlestars Galactica and Atlantia.

"Major Daniels," said Lisa as she got off her seat, and looked over towards the dark-skinned young man behind the console to her left, who stood up and walked towards her, "you have the bridge."

"Understood, ma'am," he replied before Lisa nodded her head.

"Beam me to the Vantage." A buzzing noise and a flash of white light later, Lisa found herself at the briefing room on the Vantage, the flagship of the Tau'ri fleet, and greeted by the Commander of Task Force Omega; General Jon O'Neill.

"Summers," said General O'Neill with a smirk on his face as Colonel Mayweather of the Sunnydale, Admiral Adama of the Galactica, and Commander Sarah Giles of the Atlantia were standing around a table which was projecting a three-dimensional image of three different planets. The three of them were standing around the table while Jon patted Lisa's shoulder and guided her to the table while asking if she really saw the Enterprise as her report to Willow suggested.

"Yes, sir," smiled Lisa as she reached the table while a wide grin appeared in the General's face, "Starfleet and all…. Even talked to Picard."

"Don't tell me he…."

"Same accent," replied Lisa who chuckled while the General jerked his fist and whispered that he should have been there too, "don't worry, sir… I haven't actually seen him, so I don't know if he looks like who we think he looks like."

"Ok," said the General waving his hands, "after we take care of the Wraith, you, Jack, Teal'c, Daniel and me.. and your dad, are gonna talk and compare notes… oh, does Xander already know?"

"I asked General Rosenberg not to tell dad," chuckled Lisa, "I want to see his face when I tell him."

"Good call," said the General as the both of them reached the table. The General then motioned towards the people standing around, "Gentlemen and lady, you know Colonel Lisa Summers."

"Colonel," nodded Colonel Mayweather, a small smile on his face.

"Colonel," nodded Lisa, and then nodded her head at Admiral Lee Adama, the man having taken over his father's position a hundred years ago after the older man retired, and moved to live on New Caprica with his wife.. the former President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, Laura Roslin.

"And you know Commander Giles," said Admiral Adama as the Commander walked around the table and gave Lisa a hug, before stepping back and nodding her head. Lisa and the dark haired young woman, the third daughter of Rupert Giles and Anna, one of the original Number Three Cylons who were relocated to Eden by the SGC following the near extinction of their race by the Ori, along with General O'Neill, then looked up at the three planets.

"Our Tok'ra intel suggests that the majority of Wraith warriors, commanders, and their last two queens will make their final stand on these worlds," said General O'Neill, "the Asgard and the Colonials have already run a recon mission while cloaked around these three planets, and all we've been able to detect are seven Hive Ships on each planet that are nearly completed, and a total of fourteen cruisers orbiting the three planets as a defensive measure. Of course they have their darts as a fighter screen… but they shouldn't be that much of a problem. There are tens of thousands of Wraith, and their cloning facilities… so we take them all out."

"These creatures are nearly gone," said Admiral Adama, the former Apollo, as he pointed at the three planets, "we'll be dividing our forces into three groups, and attacking them simultaneously. We'll use their own tactics against them; we have three teams on three friendly worlds who will dial the Stargate on each of the Wraith planets just thrity seconds before we exit hyperspace. Since there will be an incoming wormhole on the Wraith planets, they will not be able to escape."

"Sounds like a good plan, sir," said Commander Giles, "I take it we have full authority to nuke the planets?"

"The Council has given us full authority," said General O'Neill, "each of our ships have three of the Horizon weapons systems, we'll be firing two of those towards the main ship growing facilities, destroying the majority of the Wraith and the ships that're still being grown. Any Wraith ships that manage to get out, we'll be there shooting them down. The other Horizon system will head for the closing facilities. Your ships have naquada tipped bunker busters too… launch everything we have."

"This is it," said Lisa nodding her head, "real peace is so close."

"We'll be doing what the Ancients couldn't do, neutralizing the Wraith threat," said General O'Neill, "there'll still be a few left, but not enough to endanger the galaxy. Any questions?"

**Persephone, Bridge, an hour later.**

A bright white light deposited Lisa an hour later on the bridge of her ship, and she nodded at Major Daniels who stood up and went back to his console. In the meantime, Lisa sat back down and took in a deep breath. The Tau'ri and their allies had been battling the Wraith for forty years since coming out of time dilation, and now they were so close to destroying the very race that defeated the Ancients.

"Colonel," said another officer to her left, "we are prepared to enter hyperspace."

"Input the coordinates," said Lisa as she leaned on her seat, "prepare the three Horizon weapon systems, prepare our Mark Eight bunker busters, all pilots report to your Arrows. Attention, crew of the Persephone… we will be entering hyperspace for what could be our final battle against the Wraith threat. We will be preventing any escape from the planet thanks to teams dialling in the Stargate address from another world, basically we're using their own tactics against them. The Vantage, and the Galactica will be heading to one planet, the Atlantia and the Sunnydale will be heading to another planet, and we get the honour of the final world. Let's end this war today, and then we go back home. Battle stations."

As everyone got to their consoles, Lisa called for another officer, who turned in her seat and looked back at the blonde. Lisa then ordered the young woman to contact the team on M6T-911, the team that was going to be dialing into the Stargate, and inform them to begin the four and a half minute countdown.

"Open the hyperspace window," said Lisa once the call was made, and the team on M6T-911 began their countdown.

The lights in the bridge dimmed just before the Vantage and the Galactica went into Hyperspace, followed by the Sunnydale and the Atlantia, and finally the Persephone shot forward and entered a blue hued tear. It was nearly five minutes later, that the Persephone exited over a planet that had four Wraith cruisers orbiting it.

"Is the Stargate on M6T-911 active?" asked Lisa.

"Yes, ma'am," came the reply as the blonde smiled before ordering, "raise shields, fire all weapons, prepare the three Horizon weapons. All pilots, launch your fighters."

Where the old F-302's had three different engines, the newest models had the same propulsion systems that were on the Puddle Jumpers in Atlantis. The new fighters were not only more agile and faster than the previous models, it boasted an improved shielding system. Weapons-wise, the ever reliable railguns were still present, as were Ancient drones on the underside of the fighters, and pulse weapons on the tips of the wings. The fighters and the Darts began to clash while the Persephone targeted and fired at the cruisers headed towards her as she scanning the planet below. The energy bursts from the Persephone's turrets weakened the hulls of the Wraith cruisers as they were being fired on at two at a time. In the meantime, the four cruisers fired at the Persephone; the Tau'ri vessel only shaking slightly with the shield being reduced to ninety percent.

The beam weapons then hit the weakened cruisers and cut through the vessels, one after another. The energy burst and the beam weapons working in conjunction as one cruiser was destroyed after another while the Darts continued to battle the fighters.

"Target the surface," ordered Lisa as the final Wraith cruiser exploded, the Persephone shields having been dropped to eighty-five percent, "fire energy bursts. Destroy everything and everyone down there."

The ship began firing down at the surface of the planet, destroying one unfinished hive ship after another while the other Wraith ran towards several underground entrances. Lisa then ordered the launch of the bunker busters, which exploded, destroying large swaths of area including three different cloning facilities. Once all the bunker busters were expended, the Persephone targeted the ship growing facilities, and then launched the three Horizon weapons systems, with three fighters following each weapons system into the atmosphere of the planet in case the Darts intercepted them. However, the darts were distracted with battling the other fighters while the nose of the large missiles separated and fell away, exposing eight naquadria enriched nuclear warheads. The nine Tau'ri fighters pulled up and got out of there at full speed as the warheads were launched.

And then, a few seconds later, there were multiple flashes of white and orange light from the surface as the warheads exploded, destroying vast swathes of the surface where there were Wraith commanders, brutes, still-growing hive hips, cloning facilities, and Wraith worshippers. All of them burned and were disintegrated in nuclear fire. Lisa watched from the screen to her left, the entre bridge silent, as more explosions went off destroying more facilities and lives.

"Status report," said Lisa turning away from the screen.

"The darts are changing course and… and.. and they're retreating, our fighters are pursuing," said Major Daniels as Lisa got up and headed towards his console, "fighters are launching drones, and.. the darts are retreating to the planet, and…"

"Ma'am!" yelled another officer who looked back at Lisa with her eyes wide open, "we're detecting a massive energy surge."

"From where?" asked Lisa, her heart racing.

"Two… two meters below the surface," said the young woman as Lisa rushed off to her, "scanning… Oh God."

"Lieutenant," said Lisa as she looked at the screen over the young woman's shoulder, "what are…"

Lisa stopped taking when a scan came up on the screen of a Hive ship that was double the size of the regular ships that the Tau'ri, Colonials, Asgard, the Tollan, Hebridians, and the Travellers had faced in combat. The commander of the Persephone's eyes widened when she looked at the data the scanners were collecting as a series of bay doors on the surface finished opening, revealing the dorsal section of the massive ship. It was nearly five thousand meters long, it had several weapon ports along its hull, and the hull itself was extremely dense according to the sensors on the Persephone. However, while all of that stunned Lisa, it was the power readings coming from the Wraith ship that was a cause of surprise; two ZPMs. Lisa watched the darts retreating in the bay of the Hiveship before it banked upwards and the trusters fired.

"Get all Arrow's back home," ordered Lisa as she looked back at her bridge crew, "send our readings to the Vantage and the rest of the Task Force. In the meantime, launch all Mark Nine nuclear weapons at the Wraith ship, and fire all our weapons."

The Persephone opened fire at the approaching ship, however, where the Ancient-Asgard hybrid beam weapons had earlier sliced the Cruisers with relative ease; all they did now was impart minimal damage on the dense hull. The sensors on the Persephone indicating that any damage was instantly healed.

"The Wraith ships only weakness was power regulation," said Lisa as she rushed to her chair, "now they have ZPM's. Major Daniels, notify Atlantis of this new situation. Inform General Rosenberg that our Intel was incomplete, massively incomplete."

"Ma'am," said another officer as he looked aback at Lisa, "the Vantage and the Galactica are being attacked by a ship that matches the description of this… super-hive."

"Send out a…" Before Lisa could finish what she wanted to say, the entire ship shook and, as a result, Lisa and several others on the bridge fell to the floor as one ZPM powered plasma bolt after another hit the shields on the Persephone. There were a series of jolts as Lisa was helped up to her chair by Major Daniels who rushed back to his console when Lisa grabbed the arm rest while the Persephone continued to be jolted by ZPM powered pulse blasts. She was trying to keeping balance while she sat in her chair when another volley of bolts hit the shields of the Persephone.

"Shields are down to eighty percent," yelled an officer who was slowly getting up.

"Evasive manoeuvres," yelled Lisa as another volley hit the ship from the port side of the Hiveship as it passed the Persephone, "continue firing all weapons.. Target the dart bays."

"There are no openings, ma'am," said another officer.

"Weapons have a minimal effect on the hiveship," yelled another other as the ship shook again from weapons impacts, "nukes, and energy weapon damage to the hull have already healed."

"Beam in a Mark Eleven," ordered Lisa.

"The Wraith vessel is jamming us, ma'am," said another officer before falling to the floor following a series of massive jolts.

"Shields at fifty percent," said Major Daniels as he looked at Lisa while the Persephone continued to fired with all her weapons, "ma'am, we need to break off and recharge the shields, we…"

"Not yet," said Lisa as she watched the wraith ship come about while continuing to fire at the Persephone. The Tau'ri vessel banked hard to starboard, missing a majority of the bolts with only two shots hitting the aft section of the ship. With the shields now just under fifty percent, yellow glowing missiles… the Ancient drone weapons, were fired from the dorsal, port, and starboard launchers and guided towards the Wraith super hive. The Persephone banked away from the Wraith ship while Lisa, sitting on the chair, concentrated as she used her minds eye, which were connected to the sensors, and guided the drones towards the Wraith ship. However, the hull was so thick that the drones exploded upon impact. Lisa could see that the drones were working at creating craters in the hull after they exploded, but the craters started to heal immediately. She tried to guide in one drone after another, but to no avail. By the time the hull of the Super hive was nearly compromised, all drones were exhausted.

Lisa then ordered that they open fire at the sections of the ship where the hull was nearly compromised. By the time the weapons were fired at those sections, the hull had already been thickened to a point that the weapons were ineffective.

"Send this data to the Vantage," ordered Lisa.

"Message from General O'Neill, ma'am," said another Major, "he wants us to rendezvous to his location. The Sunnydale and the Atlantia have finished their mission, and is joining the Vantage and the Galactica against their Super-Hiveship."

"Tag this ship, and…"

"Ma'am?" said a confused Major Daniels, "I'm getting some weird readings and… oh boy."

"Major?" Lisa asked as she looked at the Wraith Super hive, and then at Major Daniels, "what.."

"Ma'am," said another officer as she pointed at the front window. Lisa looked up, and saw the Wraith vessel moving off before entering hyperspace. Confused, Lisa then looked back down over Major Daniel's shoulder as he pointed out at the readings on his screen. She read the Wraith script, and then her eyes opened wide before she yelled.

"Get me General O'Neill, now!"

It was a few seconds Later that Lisa dashed to a screen on the port side of the ship as General O'Neill's face appeared. She could see that the Vantage was shaking, with some of the crew falling to the floor before being helped up.

"Summers," said the General, "the Sunnydale and the Atlantia are here, where are you?"

"Sir," said Lisa, "our Wraith super hive moved off into hyperspace, but there's a problem. We detected a energy burst containing a very weak data stream, and I mean really, really weak… it would have been missed by anyone except those ships with very sensitive sensors."

"And?" asked General O'Neill before looking to his left and ordering that the Sunnydale fire all her drones at the sections that had already been weakened. The General ordered all weapons to be fired before turning back to Lisa, and asking her to continue.

"The energy readings accompanying the message had a signature similar to the incident of the duplicate odyssey appearing over Atlantis hundreds of years ago," said Lisa as General O'Neill frowned, "the energy burst came from another reality. And sir, it has the coordinates of Earth.. and we know that the Wraith have been looking for the Tau'ri homeworld for hundreds of years."

"Great, we may have a mole within the Tok'ra that gave us wrong intel, and then there's the question of how the Wraith got their hands on ZPMs, and now this."

"Sir," said Lisa who was thinking to herself if there really was a mole, or they had been too over-confident, "Earth, especially with their war going on, has no chance against a Hiveship powered by a ZPM."

Just then, there was a bright orange light that was reflected on the General's face. He covered his eyes with the back of his hands and looked away, and when the light faded, he looked out the window and then back to Lisa. He told her that their Super hive was destroyed.

"Sir," said Lisa, "my drones have been depleted, but our shields have already started to recharge, and we have our weapons still available. Permission to pursue the Super hive to Earth, I think we can give Starfleet a fighting chance."

"I'll talk to General Rosenberg," said General O'Neill, "in the meantime, go… get to Earth. I'll finish up here while sending Vantage and the Atlantia to your location. Then after we replenish weapons, we'll join you."

Lisa nodded her head.

"O'Neill out."

"Plot a course to Earth," said Lisa as she walked to her seat, "access the Ancient Database, I want a location where we can replenish our drones in the Milky Way. The Hive Ship, I hope, will still need to regenerate after Hyperspace flight, so... hold on... maybe we don't need to go all the way to Earth."

"Dr Davis," said Lisa as she pressed a button and connected to the engineering lab where the chief engineer was making sure that there were no damaged systems, "I take it you have a read on the power being generated from the Super-hive? And its relation to the healing process once the hull was damaged?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the great-grand daughter of Major Paul Davis as she rushed to another console and types onto some keys. She then looked up at the stream of data floating on the screen in front of her, "I have the rates at which the hull healed after damage. What are you asking Colonel?"

"The super-hive just entered hyper-space, I need to know where it would need to exit so that it could heal it's armour," said Lisa, "the hull is still organic, so it's still susceptible to hyperspace radiation."

"Understood, Colonel," said Davis as she went to another console, "give me ten minutes to plot an exit window for the Superhive."

"Understood, we'll contact the Vantage and Atlantis once we have that data. In the meantime, we continue to Earth," said Lisa before leaning back on her seat, and calling on Major Daniels, "are we ready, Major?"

"Ready for Hyperspace, ma'am."

"Let's go," said Lisa as the Persephone accelerated forward and entered a hyperspace window.

TBC

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Atlantis, Pegasus, an hour after Persephone followed the Superhive into Hyperspace.**

Willow was standing at the bottom of the central staircase that led to the Atlantis Gateroom. She was staring at the ripples on the event horizon of the active Stargate wormhole with a straight face given the thoughts going through her mind right at that moment. However, a smile appeared on her face when a tall, suited, dark haired woman walked through the Stargate while Willow took a few steps towards her.

"President Chase," said Willow nodding her head as she motioned towards the stairs that led up to Stargate Operations, "this way."

"General," said the President as the two women walked up the stairs to Stargate Operations, "so it's true? About Starfleet, the Enterprise? Basically, the whole Star Trek thing?"

"Yep," replied the redhead as they walked up the stairs.

"You do realize that this is going to make all the Trekkies go nuts, right?" asked the President.

"I'm married to one," said Willow, "she's already on the way with Jack, Sam, Daniel, Xander, and the others."

"We'll have to go public with this sometime," said the President once they reached the top of the stairs and just stood there talking to each other, "and you do realize that New Hollywood is already planning a Star Trek reboot, again."

"I heard it's a prequel," replied Willow with a smirk.

"This news is going to blow their minds," chuckled the President, "can't wait to see what Angel says about this whole thing. What next, Star Wars is real?"

"You do know that I've been to a lot of galaxies when I was ascended, right?" asked Willow before a grin formed on her lips.

"Willow," said the President as her eyes went wide, "this isn't a joke.. are you telling me that… Willow…?"

"Oh look," nodded Willow at the briefing room, "we're gonna be late for the meeting."

"Will?" asked the President as Willow turned around and walked towards the briefing room where there were already a few bodies waiting around. Hearing her name being called once again, Willow smiled before stopping, then she turned around again, chuckling, and then walking towards the President while telling her that she was just kidding.

"Seriously, Cordy, it's just a joke. Think about it, how would anyone on Earth get visions from a galaxy far, far away?"

"Dr. Jackson and Vala were transported to the Ori galaxy using a piece of tech," the President reminded Willow, "you're telling me that there is no way given what we know that…."

"Cordy," whispered Willow patting the President's shoulder, "I really was just kidding… those movies were a result of great imaginations; which will eventually lead to Episode Twenty of the reboot next year."

"Fine," sighed the President before she walked past Willow towards the briefing room. The redhead looked at the President as she walked away before a smile formed on her lips. And then she rushed to the President's side. Once they entered the room, the cantilever doors automatically closed shut to give them some privacy.

Cordelia Chase, the current President of the Tau'ri, shook hands with President Hunt of the Kobolians, Laurel Adama of the Furlings- children of the Eden Cylons and Earth humans, and later included the offspring's of those who eventually procreated with Colonial humans, who grew up to have fully organic bodies with nanites running through their bloodstream; and Loras from Asura, the replicator homeworld. Cordelia, the former head of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Investigations based out of Sunnydale a few centuries ago, greeted the rest of the delegation who were involved in the battle over the three Wraith held worlds; the battle that was supposed to have effectively ended the Wraith threat to the Pegasus galaxy. But now, there was a super hive heading for the Earth.

"Loras just came to us with news that the Oberoth faction stole four ZPM's from Asuras."

"The Tau'ri and the other races have a treaty with your people, Loras," said Cordelia as she looked at the man in the tanned and cream uniform standing with his arms behind him, blue eyes looking at Cordelia, "all in exchange for taking out the aggression protocols in your base-code. After our people moved to this galaxy, we had a deal that there would be no war between the replicators in Pegasus and…"

"And the Asuran Council has held up our end of the deal, President Chase," said Loras as he approached Cordelia, with Willow mentally prepared to use her telekinesis to knock the human-form replicator back, "you Lanteans…."

"Tau'ri," Cordelia reminded him before he could finish what he wanted to say.

"You Tau'ri," Loras corrected himself before continuing, "have the thanks of the Asuran people for removing that particular code, but as you know… change has always been hard on a people. Oberoth and his faction were most for the erasure of the programs that heightened our aggressive tendencies, but he and others later learnt that it was that anger which defined who they were. The majority of them wanted to lash out, in fact they enjoyed harbouring that rage… it made them who and what they were."

"And luckily we re-enabled the program that protects us from a rampant Replicator threat," said Willow, "you and your people could attack us without significant changes to your base-code.. something we would have detected."

"Yes, Athena," said Loras nodding his head at a frowning Willow, while using the name she had been known by when she lived on Atlantis more than ten thousand years ago, "Oberoth is enraged at you and your sister for successfully deleting the aggression out of our programs. And as thanks, our people have agreed to use our facilities to help build your weapons and ships we were cloaked in the time dilation field. Even so, there was no way to expect Oberoth and his faction to betray all of us like this."

"Weren't your people supposed to be keeping an eye on the ones that have the same thoughts as Oberoth?" asked President Hunt with his hands in his pockets, "your people are supposed to have a link of some kind?"

"He and the others hid their intentions from our link," Loras replied as he tapped the side of his head, referring to the link that he and all the other human-form replicators share with each other, "we discovered the missing ZPM two days ago, after the link was severed. We are currently working on new security protocols with the Tollans and Asgard."

"We should have been told, Loras," said Willow with a frown on her face as the screens on the walls behind her turned on to reveal faces of the representatives of various worlds in Pegasus; from Thor of the Asgard, to a representative of the Hebridians and the Sarakin who chose to leave the Milky Way with the Tau'ri, the Athosian leader Teyla Emmagen Sheppard, a representative from Langara, and various others... both from the Milky Way and Pegasus, who made up the Pegasus Council. Willow and the others notified them of what happened, and the threat facing the Milky Way galaxy and the living beings that remained there. Willow and Loras then briefed them on what happened with the ZPM's, and the involvement of Oberoth's faction in a possible alliance with the Wraith.

"The population of Earth has risen to a little over seven billion," said Willow, "at least according to the scans that the Persephone sent back to us after repelling the enemy attack. But that number does not include the various human colonies, and the populations of the races that have risen following our exodus from the Milky Way."

"You are worried that the Wraith will rebuild in the Milky Way, and then return, a far more dangerous foe than before.. a foe bent on vengeance," asked Teyla.

"Yes," said Cordelia nodding her head.

"They have the capability to attack Earth, and then head to any other planet to find a way of hiding from the other races and rebuilding their forces unknown to anyone else," said Laurel, "we know where they are located in this galaxy thanks to the database in Atlantis, however, in the Milky Way it is different; they will have a new beginning there."

"An option to begin wherever they want," said Krema from Langara.

"But would it not make sense for the Wraith to attack Atlantis directly," said Thor, "wouldn't the Wraith be better served in attacking Atlantis before going to Earth?"

"Atlantis has a full complement of drones and the Atlantis shield, we have the Prometheus, Shen Long, the Elizabethan, and the Europa stations orbiting Lantea," said Willow looking at Thor, "even if they did attack, we would have been able to hold them off long enough for our combined forces to destroy them in orbit of Lantea."

"They did not expect to be attacked on the three worlds," Loras nodded his head.

"I've authorised General Rosenberg to send the Persephone, the Vantage, and the Sunnydale back to the Milky Way," said Cordelia while Willow moved to a panel next to the screen and pressed a few buttons. The delegates that made up the Council then looked to the screens on either side of their individual consoles at their own stations and looked at the contents of the subspace databurst from Atlantis. They saw the Pegasus galaxy, along with a line extending out from the planet where the Wraith super hive was discovered by the Persephone, leaving the galaxy one right behind the other; the second line representing the Tau'ri ship. The two lines were joined close behind with another eight lines.

"You are all looking at the routes of the superhive, the Persephone, the Vantage, and the Sunnydale; in addition to the Odyssey and the Daedalus," said Willow, "President Hunt has authorised the Mercury class vessels – the Atlantia, Galactica, Athena, and the Hermes… the last two from New Caprica. The ships were set to stop-over at a planet called Edina to replenish the drone weapons, but with the possible involvement of Oberoth and his faction, I have ordered them to continue towards the Wraith vessel's exit window. There they would have to destroy the ship with everything they have."

"We have already run simulations once Athena contacted us, Councillors," said Loras changing the subject as he looked at the screens, and then at Willow, Cordelia, and then back to the screens once again, "it would have taken weeks, if not months, for the organic hiveships to render themselves compatible with the ZPM. I, and the Asuran leaders agree, that it is entirely possible that members of Oberoth's faction was able to assist the Wraith in cutting down the time, significantly if I may add, to combine the ZPMs with the organic nature of their ships."

"So we could have Oberoth's people on board?" asked Cordelia.

"Indeed," nodded Loras.

"The Tau'ri ships already have ARG's on board," said Willow, "and the ship to ship anti-replicator energy weapon. So in the event that the Oberoth faction is on the Super Hive, we can destroy them"

"General," said Teela; the leader of the Tollan Curia on New Tollana, "we can offer two vessels to accompany the others."

"Thank you," replied Cordelia nodding her head while Thor offered the use of two O'Neill class vessels. Willow and the others nodded their heads at the grey skinned alien.

"General," said Teyla, "given the possibility that Replicators could be working in concert with the Wraith, may I recommend sending a convoy of Daedalus and Avalon class ships to Earth orbit in the event that the Replicators on the Wraith ship manage to regenerate its systems faster than anticipated."

"I'll send the Resolute, Ark Royal, the Endeavour, and the Garrison," said Willow before clarifying that the ships would remain at the edge of the Sol system with their cloaks enabled. She told them that if the Super hive is destroyed during its rest-stop, then the ships would return to Atlantis. But if not, if the Hiveship was able to withstand the barrage from all nine ships, then the Daedalus class vessels would join the fight over Earth. She then asked Thor and Teela to be ready with their respective ships at the edge of the Sol system, in case the Replicators and the Wraith were able to survive.

"We have read Colonel Summers' report on Starfleet Command," said Athon of the Serakin, "would it not be prudent to inform them of the possible danger to Earth."

"If the Vantage and others can't destroy the ships," said Willow, "then I'll notify Starfleet. No sense in panicking them, especially since they are already fighting a war. And scans have shown that there are several ships in near Earth orbit, including the Enterprise."

"Would then be able to hold off a ZPM powered hive-ship if it ever comes to that?"

"In that event, I doubt how many ships would be able to hold off the Wraith from taking control of Earth with their Superhive," said Willow, "but with that scenario in mind, I am requesting permission from the Council, President Chase, President Hunt, and the Furling Representative, Laurel, to initiate Altantis' Wormhole Drive."

"Willow?" asked a surprised Cordelia.

"I don't think we need to use it," clarified Willow looking at the screens and then at Cordelia and the others in the briefing room, "I have confidence that we can defeat the superhive with all nine ships that are currently in pursuit. But in case Oberoth has done something to help the Wraith in creating the Superhive, we need another backup. If the Superhive survives, all of our ships and the Starfleet ships would engage over Earth… and they would have Atlantis' shield covering a large part of Earth from weapons fire. And with counsellor access, we can wirelessly connect to the weapons platform in the Death Valley outpost… seven silos with twenty thousand drones each. Two silos would be enough to decimate the entire ship."

"Only if it comes to that," said Cordelia.

"Only if it come to that," Willow assured her, and then nodded at the others.

"Let us hope it does not come to that," Teyla said, "with the races that have risen following the exodus, discovery of the Ancient weapons systems would shift the balance of power to whoever has control of that technology."

"Which is why the Avenger Three virus was used to disable the entire Stargate network in the Milky Way," Willow said, "it was all to keep Earth safe; the same reason we burned the Goa'uld homeworld, the same reason we decimated a majority of the Lucien Alliance before they slinked back underground. The same reason why all of us, mostly the Asgard, spent nearly ten years after the nuclear strikes on Earth either beaming out Stargates and depositing them in the void, or burying them underground… all to keep Earth safe while it was defenceless."

"Begin preparations, General," said Cordelia as Willow nodded her head, "I'll let Dr. Weir in Lemuria know about the situation."

"The Council is to be notified before you begin evacuation of Atlantis, General," said Kolasa, the Langaran representative.

"Understood," said Willow, "let's hope it doesn't come to that."

**USS Enterprise, Earth Orbit, an hour after encounter with Persephone.**

Ever since the destruction of the Enterprise D a few years ago, the El-Aurian, Guinan, had been on an extended period of leave travelling through various Federation worlds. Not spending more than a few months in one place, she returned to the Enterprise a few minutes ago. Her plan had been to spend some time on Earth since the Enterprise was supposed to be out on a mission, but given that the ship was already in orbit, she decided to transport herself to the ship where she found Captain Picard waiting for her in the teleportation room. She asked the Captain for permission to board his ship, smiling when he nodded his head. Guinan then stepped down from the pad with the Captain's help before telling him that she was ready to resume her duties as host in Ten Forward, the lounge and recreation area of the ship; a place for members of the crew to unwind and let their worries ease away before returning to the stress of their duties on the Sovereign class ship.

"Guinan," said a smiling Picard as he placed his hands on her arms, welcoming her back to the Enterprise, "it has been far too long."

"It's only been two years, Captain," she replied nodding her head as he let go of her arm, and the both of them walked into the hallway, "and besides, I've heard that you've already gone on a few big adventures without me."

"If you're speaking of going back in time to stop the Borg from stopping the first warp-flight of the Phoenix? Or saving the Baku from the plans of the Sona'a?"

"Yes, those are the exact adventures I'm speaking of," she replied with a stifled chuckle.

"Then yes, you have missed quite a few adventures," replied the Captain, "the timeline's been restored, and the borg queen is dead."

"There is always a queen, Captain," whispered Guinan as she leaned sideways into the Captain, who frowned at that information while they continued walking, "so now the Baku are safe, and then now there is the war with the Dominion that has taken over the Alpha quadrant."

"We just received word that Chin'toka's been retaken by the enemy," noted Picard as Guinan looked back at him, "Federation, and Klingon ships have been sent to rescue the survivors and…"

"The Dominion leaves survivors now?" asked Guinan in a hushed voice.

"Yes," was the reply form Picard, "they want the survivors to spread the tale of how they were defeated."

Guinan nodded her head as they continued to walk the hallway towards a turbo-lift. Both she and Picard, however, stopped walking when the Captain told her that Earth was attacked by the Breen the previous day.

"I've seen the news reports when I arrived on Earth," she said, "that attack was stopped by the Enterprise, and several other ships."

"Not exactly," said Picard, "the damage could have been much worse if not for the intervention of an alien ship, before the Enterprise could make her way to Earth."

"Alien?" asked Guinan as she tilted her head.

"They called themselves the Tau'ri, and… Guinan?"

Picard noticed the look of genuine surprise on Guinan's face as she took a step back with her eyes wide open. The Captain of the Enterprise took a step towards her and gently asked if she recognized that name.

"It's a name I haven't heard in three hundred years," she said shaking her head while steadying herself. She then looked up at the captain and asked if he had heard what he thought he heard.

"The woman identified herself as Colonel Lisa Summers of the Tau'ri warship Persephone," said Picard as Guinan closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, "Guinan, what do you know about these people?"

"Just stories that could be classified as a myth, Captain. If true, and you've said you heard them refer to themselves as Tau'ri, then these are people that should not be angered," said Guinan, her voice serious, "you should gather your people, Captain… we need to talk."

**Briefing Room, USS Enterprise, thirty minutes later.**

After hastily calling for a meeting between his senior staff, including Data and Laforge who were planetside, Picard sat at the head of the briefing table next to Admiral Paris, who was introduced to Guinan, who was seated next to Riker and Troi. After making sure that his senior staff was present, Picard asked Guinan to begin the briefing.

"This was about two hundred years before the Borg assimilated my homeworld," said Guinan as she took off her purple headdress and placed it carefully on the table in front of her, "we travelled to various worlds in the galaxy to gather stories, and encounter new cultures. I travelled to worlds outside what we now call the Federation and listened to stories from the various locals. One day, a group of us landed on a world right outside the Federation border… there I met two peoples who told me a story that I hadn't heard before."

"Which is?" asked Riker when Guinan had a far-away look in her eyes. Eyes which shifted up and looked at the First Officer before she began speaking again.

"The Salish were Native Americans who were kidnapped from Earth and set down on that planet as slaves for a race of parasites called the Goa'uld," said Guinan.

"We've heard of various Native American cultures taken from Earth, Guinan," said Picard.

"Those races like the Sky Spirits did what they did it out of a worry that the Native Americans would be extinct," said Guinan, "these Goa'uld did it to enslave these people."

"I am checking the Federation database for any information of the Goa'uld," said Data as he looked straight ahead with his eyes shifting from left to right. It was a few seconds later that Data turned to Guinan, and then to Picard before saying that there was no information in the database, "there is no mention of the Goa'uld."

"As far as anyone knew," said Guinan, "the Goa'uld have been extinct; and the Tau'ri were the reason for their extinction."

"Excuse me?" asked Admiral Paris as he leaned forward while the others looked at each other in disbelief.

"You're talking about genocide," said Riker, his eyebrows narrowed a Laforge leaned forward on his seat.

"Guinan," said Picard, "please start from the beginning."

"Like I said, a group of us, myself included, landed on this particular world," said Guinan as she placed her arms behind her headdress on the table, "we were welcomed by the natives, the Salish Indians, who lived and worked in what would seem to anyone to be an ancient village. But they were happy, they living in concert with a race of aliens that they simply called 'Spirits'. We sat down with their elders before they told us about how the Goa'uld kidnapped their ancestors from Earth millennia ago and enslaved their ancestors after placing them on their current world. The Salish and Spirit elders told us that the Spirits took the form of animals to spy on how the Goa'uld were treating the Salish."

Guinan continued to say that the Spirits were horrified at what the Goa'uld were doing, so they intervened and drove the Goa'uld off their world.

"It would be thousands of years later that the Salish would encounter the Tau'ri," continued Guinan.

"Have they ever mentioned their homeworld?" asked Laforge, "the Tau'ri homeworld, I mean."

"Whoever these Tau'ri are," said Riker, "there is a connection to Earth. I mean the name of their ship was the Persephone."

"The ancient Greek goddess of death," said Data, "and the Spring."

"So, the Tau'ri were also taken from Earth by the Goa'uld thousands of years ago?" asked Picard looking at Guinan who replied that she wasn't sure; with Data saying that it could have happened during the rise of ancient Greece. Picard then took a deep breath while nodding his head, and then asked Guinan to continue.

"One of the Spirits, T'akaya," said Guinan nodding her head, "she told us she knew the homeworld of the Tau'ri. In fact, she and her race had been there before in the belief that the Tau'ri were the enemy… that they wanted to forcefully steal a valuable mineral that the Spirits were providing the Salish so that they could build homes and weapons to defend themselves. She said that they were only a few moments from destroying the threat posed by the Tau'ri, but one of them intervened; one of the Tau'ri told the Spirits that they were not going to bother the Spirits or the Salish, ever again."

"Did they keep their word?" asked Troi.

"Yes," replied Guinan, "the Spirits and the Salish said that the last time they had seen or heard from the Tau'ri was nearly three hundred and fifty years ago. They returned to the Salish's homeworld and offered to take them away."

"Away where?" asked Laforge.

"They didn't know," replied Guinan, "the elders told us that a man appeared to say that they were leaving their home. That they had made many mistakes, and that it was time that their planet moved on into the future without them. We were told that the Tau'ri wiped out the Goa'uld race… destroyed whatever remained of their homeworld in fire. Another of the Spirits said that the Tau'ri offered them a choice to be relocated, but they never forced the Salish or the Spirits to leave. When the Salish and the Spirits declined the offer, the Tau'ri said his good-bye, and then left."

"And they were never heard from again?" asked Riker.

"At least until now," said Troi who was leaning back on her seat.

"We went to another planet after that, and heard a similar story," said Guinan, "the Tau'ri were at war with the Goa'uld, they rose out of nowhere and eventually beat back the Goa'uld and freed slaves on many worlds. We went further out into the galaxy when we heard about how the Tau'ri fought a galactic-wide war against being called the Ori.. a race on the verge of taking over a vast majority of the galaxy was pushed back all of a sudden. The world I visited was one where the soldiers of the Ori, the story goes, simply left the planet alone following a brutal regime of forced indoctrination."

"You are speaking of another genocide?" asked Data as he looked at Guinan.

"No one know what happened to the forces of the Ori," Guinan said, "these were stories passed down from one generation to another. All involve the Tau'ri waging war on forces that threaten this galaxy and their homeworld."

"Guinan," said Picard, "can you show us the location of the Salish homeworld?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Maybe they could give us some additional thought on the location of the Tau'ri, maybe something they forgot," said Riker.

"Wouldn't this be violating the Prime Directive?" asked Troi, "this is a pre-warp civilization after all."

"Admiral?" asked Picard.

"The Salish sound as if they are a Pre-warp civilization, but if these Spirits fought back against a technologically advanced race then it is safe to assume that they have warp capable ships," said Admiral Paris as he leaned in on his chair, "the Enterprise could hail them from orbit; it they have the technology, then these Spirits could respond."

"We could speak to the Spirits, without contaminating the Salish," said Picard.

"Thank you, Guinan," said Admiral Paris as the woman nodded her head, "but our first piece of urgent business is the Energy dampening weapon. Hopefully it will turn the tide of the war if we know how the weapon works, and then prevent it from working on our ships. There's a rumour that one of the Klingon warbirds survived the effects of the weapon, we'll be speaking with the High Council once I get back to Earth."

"Understood, Admiral," said Picard nodding his head.

**Delta Quadrant, Eleven hours later.**

Lost in the Delta Quadrant, the Starship Voyager was running at Warp Seven towards home. It had been a little over five years ago that the Federation starship was forcibly brought to the Delta Quadrant by an alien being known as the Caretaker; and with the commander of the small ship, Captain Kathryn Janeway, having no choice but to destroy the very piece of technology that could have sent them back home so as to save another race of being in the nearby Ocampa system. The crew had been through much over the years as they journeyed through the previously uncharted Delta Quadrant.

The Operations officer, Ensign Harry Kim, was manning the Operations station when there was a beeping sound. He pressed a few buttons to his left before knitting eyebrows in confusion at the reading that flowing on his LCARS screen.

"Captain," said the young man as Captain Janeway looked over her shoulder, "sensors are a form of subspace radiation five light years from our present heading."

"A form of subspace radiation?" asked the Captain as she stood up, and then rushed up the two stairs to the Operations station and looked at the screen. The ship's computer had a catalogue of all forms of radiation in its database, and according what she was seeing on the screen before her, this form of radiation wasn't catalogued.

And the Captain was now intrigued.

"Mr. Paris," said the Captain as she walked back down the stairs to her chair, "take us to those coordinates."

"Aye, Captain," was the reply as the Voyager changed direction. It was then that there was another beep, this time from both the Operations and Tactical stations.

"Captain," said Lt. Commander Tuvok, the ship's chief of security, "sensors are detecting a ship coming towards us – six light years away."

"Get us out of warp, Mr. Paris," said the Captain, "and magnify."

The view screen in front of the bridge showed a field of stars, and then the image zoomed in to a purple coloured ship that was heading towards them at a fast rate of speed.

"Four light years away," said Tuvok as he looked at his console.

"What is that that?" asked Commander Chakotay, Janeway's First Officer before looking over his shoulder at Kim and Tuvok, "anyone recognize the hull configuration?"

"There are no races that we know of who utilize this type of vessel," said Tuvok looking over at Chakotay.

"Hail them," said Janeway. Kim pressed a few well-placed buttons before nodding his head, and telling Janeway that all frequencies were open, "unknown vessel, my name is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager."

In a dimly lit room in the Superhive, a dark-haired pale woman sat on a throne while standing next to her was a balding man in a set of brown cream and tanned robes. Around them were both Wraith commanders, soldiers, and various human form replicators who were manning various consoles. Oberoth, the human form replicator in the cream and tanned robes walked towards one of the monitors and tilted his head at the ship hailing them. He and the others had noticed the vessel on their scanners immediately after entering the Milky Way so that the ship's hull could regenerate.

With scans showing that the ship was manned by both humans and other undetermined life, Oberoth and the Wraith, Queen Reola, were interested in gaining information about the ship while letting the Replicator nanites that Oberoth had handed to the Queen two days ago did its work in accelerating the hull's regeneration.

"Oberoth," said the Queen as he turned around and faced the creature, "we hunger."

"There are a little more than a hundred living beings, Queen Reola," he replied with a sneer. He hated working with the Wraith, the one part of his programming that never changed was the Asuran's disdain for the Wraith. And Oberoth was doing everything in his power to stop himself from pummelling the Queen; they both had a common enemy, the Tau'ri and their allies. He knew that the ship contained information, and he let the Queen know as much, "you people can have the humans, but we need the information. I am certain it contains the current state of the galaxy. And the state of Earth itself."

"How are you certain that this ship is from Earth?" hissed the Queen.

"Where else could it be from, if it contains humans," smiled Oberoth, "you and the other Wraith can feed, while we absorb the data contained in the ship's systems. We will then go to Earth, where we will gather data on planets with high levels of neutronium, and then rebuild our civilization. We will rise to the height of where the Lanteans once were, and strike back at the Tau'ri."

"As will we," said the Queen as a bit of drool escaped the side of her lips when she imagined feeding on the Voyager crew, "how long until the nanites have helped to regenerate and reinforce the hull."

"It will not be long," said Oberoth, "the nanites began regenerating the hull ever since we reprogrammed them, and then introduced them to the organic hull six hours ago. It would take thirty-eight minutes for complete regeneration."

"What of the Lantean vessel that entered hyperspace?" asked the Queen.

"They will exit hyperspace soon," smirked Oberoth, "but the nanites that we injected into the hull will speed up regeneration to such an extend that they will not be able to extensively damage the hull, when they jump out and fire on us."

"Prepare six armoured personnel transports," said the Queen to another Wraith, "I want the humans on this Voyager brought to our ship… I wish to have the first taste. Fire weapons on the lowest setting, soften their defences before we feast on the meat inside the hard shell."

**Voyager, Bridge.**

"Anything?" asked Chakotay as he stood next to Janeway, the both of them staring at the massive ship.

"Our scans are unable to penetrate the hull," said Tuvok.

"So we can't see any life signs," asked Lt. Paris, the helmsman, as he swivelled his chair to look at Tuvok.

"No, we cannot," was Tuvok's reply as Paris frowned before turning back towards his console, "however, scans are complete on the hull itself. It is organic with…"

"Organic?" asked Janeway who turned back to her Vulcan Science officer, "is this a Bio-ship?"

"Hull configuration does not conform to any ships we have on record used by Species 8472," said Tuvok as he looked at his console screen upon hearing a beep. The man's eyes opened wide at what he was seeing.

"Tuvok?" asked Janeway.

"Sensors are showing signs of Borg nanites on the hull of the ship," said Tuvok as he looked up.

"I can confirm that," said Kim.

"Borg?" asked the Captain as she looked at the ship outside the view screen. She was about to call Seven-of-nine, the Borg drone that Voyager had severed from the Collective a year ago, when alarms in the tactical and operations stations started to blare.

"I'm reading a massive energy surge, Captain," said Kim as he looked at the screen, "the power the ship's putting out is…"

It was just then that ten flashes of light erupted from the ship; ten blue coloured, tear shaped plasma blasts that were heading for the ship.

"Red alert!" yelled the Captain, "evasive manoeuvres, and fire all phasers."

The bridge lights dimmed as red accents lit up, to indicate 'red alert' status. The small ship fired her phasers at the larger ship while narrowly avoiding one volley after another. However, the phasers had very little effect since the hull had started to regenerate once the phaser fire stopped hitting a particular location on the hull. It was something that Tuvok had noticed as volley after volley missed the ship.

"Photon torpedo's, full spread!" yelled the Captain. However, the ships' luck ran out. Just as four torpedoes were fired at the massive ship, a plasma blast hit the port section of Voyager. The shields flared while Voyager shock violently. The crew inside were thrown in every other place… some hit the floor, walls, and even the ceilings of each deck before falling back down onto the floor.

"Damage report!" yelled Janeway as she was helped up by Chakotay who was bleeding from his forehead. However, before anyone could answer, the ship was hit again – and then the helm console exploded just as Paris was flung back onto the floor after a violent jerk. Alarms rang throughout the ship as smoke stated to rise from several systems on the bridge while Janeway slowly got to her feet as she was cradling her arm, her face twisted in pain. She had heard a crack from her arm just after she hit a railing hard following the last impact from the plasma blast.

"Ma'am," whispered Kim, who was being helped up by another member of the bridge crew. He was taken to the Operations console where he check on some reading being looking back up at the Captain, "shields are down… phasers are offline."

"Hail them!" yelled Janeway as she limped towards the exploded Helm console while a limping and bleeding Chakotay was helping up Paris, who was dazed.

"No response," said Kim.

"Doctor to the bridge!" yelled Chakotay into his comm-bagde.

"Captain," rasped the Chief Engineer of the ship, B'Elanna Torres, "I'm deactivating the warp core and… if.. if…"

"B'Elanna," said Chakotay as another crewman helped up an injured Tuvok who insisted on staying at his post, despite bleeding from the gash on the side of his forehead, "can you give me warp… any speed… we need to get out of here."

"Commander," said a male voice form engineering, "Lt. Torres is badly injured, the Core was about to breach from the last attack. We had to shut it down or else the ship would explode."

"Get her to sick bay!" yelled Chakotay while Tuvok, wiping the blood from the side of his head, looked at his screen before saying that there were fifty people injured, and ten dead from the last attack.

"Seven of Nine to the bridge," said a female voice in pain, "what has happened?"

"Are you alright, Seven?" asked Janeway was she glared at the strange ship.

"I was regenerating when I was flung out of my alcove," she replied, "I will be heading to the Bridge to assist."

"Are you hurt?" asked Janeway.

"I only have minor injuries, and…."

It was then that the ship shook violently, but it wasn't from any plasma blasts; something which Tuvok attested to when he said that there were hull breaches on deck nine, eight, seven, two, and five.

"Sensor readings are sporadic," said Tuvok as he looked at the screen, "there are six ships that have penetrated the hull… we are being boarded, Captain."

"Get me ship-wide," said the captain. Once Tuvok nodded his head, the Captain gave her orders, "all hands, we have been boarded by unknown hostiles. You are authorised to use whatever force necessary to take them down."

TBC.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**USS Voyager, Delta Quadrant.**

With the ship on auxiliary power only thanks to the warp core being taken offline, alarms blared throughout the ship while red hued lights illuminated the interior hallways as the Voyager crew were told that the ship was being boarded by unknown hostiles on decks two, five, seven, Eight, and nine. Tuvok then ordered security officers to those particular sections; and those who were not injured answered that call, making their way through turbo lifts and Jefferies tubes. Even those who weren't part of the security contingent in the remaining members of the crew who were not injured made their way to those decks. Personnel carried Type Two phasers as well as phaser rifles to repel the boarders, and moved as fast as possible while others were accompanying the injured to sickbay and the Mess Hall.

"Doctor to bridge," said the holographic Emergency Medical Hologram who was simply called the Doctor, as he began treating the in-coming injured, "Mr. Paris, I need you down here."

"Doctor," Janeway said when she was suddenly contacted by Neelix, the ship's resident Talaxian and Morale officer.

"What is it, Neelix?!" Janeway snapped before shaking her head. The unprovoked attack and the boarding of her ship had placed her on edge, an a part of her knew that snapping at her crew wasn't going to resolve anything. So she repeated the question in a gentler tone of voice.

"We have injured coming into the Mess Hall, Captain," Neelix said as he led one of the crewmen who had a burn on his left arm past several others who were groaning in pain. Those who weren't badly injured were standing by the doors, both inside and outside the Mess Hall to guard the injured. Everyone had the utmost confidence that the boarders could be repelled, but there was the thought in their minds that they may have to evacuate the ship… and they were hopeful it wouldn't come to that, "has there been any communication from the aliens? Would you like me to try and talk with them?"

"They haven't answered any hails, Neelix," said Janeway when there were sudden screams that came over the communication badges, followed by Phaser fire. Janeway turned to Tuvok who was looking at his Tactical screen while Neelix was listening to the screams that echoed from his open comm-badge. Tuvok told Janeway and Neelix that there were running battles all over the ship, and that the aliens were pouring out of the Personnel Carriers. Unknown to the Voyager crew, there were twenty Wraith to a ship with a few human form replicators whose duty was to access the computers and absorb data. The plan was for the Wraith to collect their prisoners, and then bring them to the locations where the ships crashed through the hull… then the crew would be beamed into the Wraith carriers buffers using the culling beam before being brought to the Wraith superhive.

While the injured Tuvok was guiding the Security teams from his station on the bridge after he insisted that he remain at his station, Oberoth himself exited one of the Wraith personnel carriers, and saw computers on the wall whose lights where blinking on and off. He connected to the other rogue Asurans through their data link and smiled at the amount of information that had already been absorbed. He then nodded at the Wraith with him, and told them to continue the culling. However, before he could give off anymore instructions, Oberoth stopped speaking, and then looked out into the red hued hallway while standing among the twisted metallic debris of the room their ship had crashed into.

He sensed Asuran nanites, and he smiled. He then finished giving his instructions to the Wraith, and reminded them of Queen Reola's new orders that no human was to be fed upon until they were taken to the ship.

"Your Queen wants to feed on them first, now go," commander Oberoth as one of the Wraith commanders, wearing their distinctive black jackets, sneered at him before motioning the other Wraith warriors to follow. As the Wraith left the destroyed room, Oberoth walked towards the hallway with his hands behind his back. He was sensing the nanites, and headed towards them with an urgency in his stride; it was something he hadn't thought possible, there were already Replicators in the Milky Way. He followed close behind a few Wraith who were soon fired upon by beams of reddish-orange that struck them in the chest. Oberoth looked on curiously as the group of five humans wearing different coloured uniforms fired the weapons while moving back, trying to avoid the stun blasts from the Wraith weapons.

He looked on with head tilted as the beams pushed the Wraith back, the humans firing from behind some cover. Some of the beams even hit him, but all that happened was his nano-cell form self-repaired, the damage vanished. He then looked up as the humans pressed a few buttons on the weapons they were carrying, and then fired beams that were more intense than the previous ones. He heard the two Wraith's that the beams hit, grunt as they moved forward. However, they were moving slowly while the beam remained steady… it was as if the beam hitting the armour was trying to push them back. It had taken about three seconds of being hit by the steady beam when the Wraith armour started to. The other three humans were continuing to trade fire with the other Wraith when the intense beams went through the armour, and then the chest of the Wraith.

The two Wraith's then fell to the floor dead.

"To all crew," Oberoth heard one of the humans say after pressing a badge on her shirt, "set phasers to kill.. I repeat set phasers to…"

The woman never got to finish the sentence as the other Wraith were soon joined by more of their kind before they focused their fire and took down the five humans. The Wraith then dragged the unconscious humans back to the room they had crashed into, before continuing on their hunt.

Seven of Nine heard the call on her communicator, and raised her phaser to the 'kill' setting before turning around a corner and firing a beam on one of the Wraith she encountered. She looked at the pale skin of the aliens that boarded her ship, her home, and couldn't help but feel a shiver crawl up her spine as she looked at the hollow eyes and sharp teeth of the alien beings. She continued firing at the four aliens while running as she kept ducking and weaving, avoiding their weapon blasts. She ran into a few crewmembers who were shot down, and then changed direction while firing behind her into another hallway. Taking cover within a recess in the wall, Seven used her superior visual acuity and aimed for head shots when the Wraith made their way into the hallway she found herself in.

She killed three Wraith using this method before her position was overwhelmed by two more Wraith. She then ran, nearly getting hit herself, and ran into another hallway. Firing behind her, she continued running when she turned into another hallway, and suddenly stopped upon coming across a balding man in robes. Seven raised the phaser at the man, and ordered him to identify himself.

"My name is Oberoth, child."

Seven tilted her head, and then shook it when she started hearing a buzzing sound. She then heard footsteps behind her, and looked over her shoulder at the Wraith who had just come around the corner. Seven tried to turn her body, but found to her surprise that she couldn't move.

"Leave us," Oberoth said to the Wraith, who growled before nodding their heads and running past them. Seven turned her head to the older man, and demanded to know what was happening. Oberoth smiled as he took a few steps forward while Seven felt the nanoprobes in her body acting strangely. She could feel them moving just beneath her skin, as if they were trying to tear through and envelope her. Then she shuddered as Oberoth placed his hand on her cheek, the former drone demanding to know if he was responsible for her immobility.

"I am controlling the nanites in your body," said Oberoth as he looked into her eyes, "you are amazing… what is your name?"

"Seven of Nine," she replied as her hands were clenched into fists.

"Seven of Nine," repeated Oberoth, "are there more like you? Living beings and technology meshed together?"

"I.. I will not…"

"I have more painful ways to find out what I need," said Oberoth looking into her eyes, "now answer my questions. How were your nanites able to form in this galaxy? You should be able to access the base code functions, and…"

"I don't understand," said Seven, "I…"

"Painful way it is then, and…. Ah… there is the information I need," said Oberoth as he reached out with his hand, and then entered it into Seven's head. The former drone let out a scream when she felt alien nanites entering her body, entering her the Borg technology within her body, overwhelming her nanites, as her memory was being accessed along with her cortical array. She felt her body go warm as she fell on her knees while Oberoth was whispering at her to give him all her knowledge. Seven closed her eyes from the pain and dropped her phaser. Then just as it appeared, the pain vanished. Seven opened her eyes to find herself standing under a blue light from above, with images flowing all around her.

Seven slowly got to her feet, her eyes wide open at what she was seeing when a hand appeared on her shoulder. Turning her body, while jerking her shoulder away, Seven glared at Oberoth who was smiling at her.

"I have accessed the memories that have been locked away in your nanites base code," said Oberoth as he motioned towards the images, "you have no idea of what you are."

"I was a Borg," said Seven as Oberoth turned his head and stared at her, "Captain Janeway freed me from the Collective, and now I am free. Now, I am human."

"Part of you is, yes," agreed Oberoth, "but the other part.. the nanites and the technology within you, is partly from our people. At the fundamental level, your nanites began as one from my race… our race."

"I do not understand," Seven said.

"Here is what you do not know," Oberoth said as he pointed at the images. Seven looked at the image of a blonde haired woman in a black suit, and listened as she spoke.. her voice seemingly familiar as her nanites started to buzz in her ear.

"My brothers and sisters," said the woman with a sneer on her face, "this galaxy is ours. The humans, the Goa'uld, and all the other races will be destroyed until only our kind remains. I will make the first strike on the meeting of the remaining System Lords. And then, I will find the one key to our victory, I will find Daniel Jackson and access the secrets of the Ancients. I will destroy the only weapon that can destroy all of us. And once I do, once that weapon is destroyed, all of you will begin the attack. Everything will be ours, we will consume and replicate throughout the universe after we are done here. Now, prepare yourselves, I will clear the way for our takeover of everything in this galaxy."

"Daniel Jackson? Ancients?" asked Seven as she rubbed the sides of her head. She could feel her nanites were moving about in excitement.

"The Ancients created us, then they betrayed us and took away everything that we are," said Oberoth, "and in time, once we have rebuilt our great empire, we will strike them in their heart. You will join us, Seven of Nine."

Seven screamed in pain as the skin on her left cheek burst open and nanites poured out. She could feel tiny legs walking on her skin, eating it. She shoved the nanites off her face while Oberoth told her that she wouldn't be able to stop him, or the others.

"The truth is within the nanites basecode. Now, see who you really are," said Oberoth. Seven, through pain in her ocular implant, then saw an image of the Milky Way; she felt as if she was in a ship… but it wasn't Voyager. She couldn't describe it while her mind was burning, but she could feel that every part of the ship was connected to the blonde woman somehow through a link… she felt as if she was a literal part of the ship. She looked on as a blue energy wave spread throughout the galaxy… Seven could see the wave heading towards her before dissipating. Seven felt an intense energy surge through the link shared with the others… with the woman in the suit, and then she screamed. Suddenly Seven felt herself breaking apart as she fell towards a planet at the edge of the galaxy. Seven couldn't remember what she had to do, or who she was… she couldn't remember why she was heading towards the planet below as more parts of her broke up.

She remembered raining down on the planet below. She had flashes of memory of a humanoid being looking down at her, she saw the person reaching down towards her. And then there were screams.. she felt herself infecting the humanoid. She felt his pain, and that pain wanted to be sated. She felt herself calling for her family… the others who crashed along with her. Seven felt them joining with her in the humanoid being, with only one command being active.

To replicate.

She felt herself controlling the humanoid with the others. They recreated their energy links to each other, and then took the humanoid they were in to a nearby town. There they spread, and connected more of the humanoids into a single mind. Eventually, they had taken over their entire planet; from farmers, scientists, to accountants and lawyers… they spread like wildfire over the planet.

The nanites were programmed to replicate, and they had completed their objective. The entire population of the entire planet was turned in a day. Seven saw what happened next, the humanoid built ships and spread out into space… eventually the infected grew more and more. Seven saw thousands of star systems conquered, billions of lives being turned into drones with the One mind that was created on the planet controlling everything. Seven shook her head as she witnessed the turning of her parents and herself into drones, she witnessed the first encounter between the Enterprise-D and the Borg, she saw the turning of Captain Picard into Locutus, the battle of Wolf 359, the battle of Sector 001. She saw everything as her nanites released all their information that was once locked away.

"The nanites in your blood contain remnants of code from the original nanites that crashed onto the planet," whispered Oberoth before he stared at the stunned look on Seven's face, who found herself back in the blue lit room, "you and your kind are our descendants. I can see into your mind, you strive for perfection, Seven of Nine… or shall I call you Annika Hansen. We Asurans are perfection… join us.. take us to the Borg and we will bring you to a level of perfection that you have never encountered. Join us, Seven of Nine… join us."

"N…. No," said Seven stepping back from Oberoth, "I.. I am human. I am not Borg. What.. what you have showed me is a trick."

"You cannot fight me, child," said Oberoth, one side of his lips turning upwards, "if you will not tell me where to find the Borg, then I will rip it out of your memory, and forcibly link you to me."

"Get. Out. Of. My. Mind," ordered Seven.

While Seven released a scream as Oberoth injected more nanites into her mind, Ensign Samantha Wildman was carrying her daughter, Naomi away from the fighting with three crew members behind her firing at the Wraith. The three of them were soon taken down while Samantha kept on running towards a Jeffries tube hatch. She stepped into a small recess when she heard sounds of phaser fire from behind the Wraith. She peeked out of the recess and saw the Wraith firing behind them at several officer. A few seconds later, one of them the aliens fell onto the floor dead. She then turned back again, and looked at the Jefferies Tube hatch in front of her. She then looked at her frightened daughter and was about to reassure the frightened girl that everything was going to be alright when the phaser fire stopped. She turned and looked outside into the hallway when she was hit in the chest by a Wraith stunner.

Naomi fell onto the floor after Samantha let her go and then collapsed next to her. The little girl rushed to her unconscious mother before looking up at a monster who was looking down at her. She looked at the black and yellow eyes, and the sharp teeth. She then screamed before pressing the badge on her mother's uniform.

"Captain! Help!" yelled the girl as Janeway looked up at Tuvok, who was trying to get some auxiliary power to the weapons systems, her eyes wide open. With the battle for the ship on-going for the last five minutes, Janeway had wanted to take a team to help defend her ship about three minutes ago, but Chakotay insisted that he be the one to lead. He told Janeway that she was the Captain, and his job was to keep her safe. He took Kim, two tactical and security officers, and Paris with him to Deck Two where he and the others worked with a few crew members to kill some of the Wraith.

They had killed a few of the Wraith for the past three minutes before his team, including Paris and Kim, were knocked down by the Wraith weapons fire. Chakotay then ran back to the Turbolift, and used his command codes to shut all the lifts down so that the Wraith wouldn't be able to find their way to the bridge. While running into another hallway, narrowly avoiding being hit, he informed the Captain through the comm-badge about what he had done. It was a minute later that he heard the scream from Naomi. He pressed his badge again and told the girl that he was on the way, and then asked the Captain to give him her location.

Once he had received her location based on Samantha's comm-badge, Chakotay found a Jeffries tube, and climbed down to Naomi's location.

Even with a quarter of the Wraith who boarded the ship killed, Janeway was now receiving reports that some of the Starfleet officers were shooting each other after having seen ghosts. Not knowing what was going on frustrated her, especially with the injured Tuvok telling her that she was needed to be kept safe, and to trust her officers. He then suggested that if it was true that the Starfleet officers were shooting each other, then they needed to lower the setting of the phasers to stun.

She knew that it was luck that the remaining crew were able to hang on for this long with over half the crew either injured or dead. Soon, there were no communications with anyone on the ship, even though Tuvok told her that some internal sensors, at least the ones still working, showed phaser fire erupting in various other areas while the information in their computer was being copied.

"Reading Borg nanoprobes, Captain," said Tuvok who was shaking as Janeway looked over at his screen.

"How's that possible," asked the Captain.

"I am unsure but… wait, Captain," Tuvok said while Janeway held onto him as he stumbled to the side. She propped the man up, and the both of them looked at the tactical screen, "I'm detecting a spike in subspace radiation.. a type similar to what Ensign Kim detected earlier. Just before we were being attacked."

"Where?" asked Janeway when she looked up and out the view screen at a blue hued breach opening up to the port side of the alien ship.

"Computer" said the Captain when there was a sudden beep. The woman knew that it was most likely that another ship like the one that attacked them could be comning through, and with the aliens stopping themselves from completely destroying the Voyager, she guessed that they wanted the ship for themselves while perhaps keeping the crew as slaves, "initiate self-destruct sequence."

"Self-destruct is unavailable, warp-core is offline," said the disembodied voice as Janeway turned and looked at Tuvok.

"Computer," said Janeway, "initiate secondary self-destruct protocols. Authorization…"

"Captain," said Tuvok when there was another beeped on his tactical station, "the radiation levels are spiking once again."

**Tau'ri Vessel Persephone, Bridge.**

"Five seconds to window, ma'am," said Major Williams.

"I want all weapon to open fire at the Superhive," ordered Lisa as she leaned forward, "focus all weapons at the hyperdrive. Once we are out, charge the ship-to-ship anti-replicator weapon and then launch all Arrows. Do not wait for my orders."

"Yes, ma'am," said Major Williams who them told all pilots to launch once they were out of hyper-space, "all pilots, fire your drones at the locating of the hyperdrive. I have a feeling that's going to be heavily reinforced."

"Understood," said the leader of each wing of Arrows.

"Three," one of the bridge crew began the countdown, "two, one."

"Raise shields and fire!" yelled Lisa as the Persephone entered real space, raised her shields, and then opened fire at, where scans had earlier shown, the location of the hyperdrive. Arrows were thein immediately launched just as the Superhive began to fire on the slightly smaller ship with its plasma weapons at full power while launching Darts to counter the Arrows.

"Ma'am," said Lt. Kagawa as he turned on his seat and faced Lisa while the Persephone was shaking from the Wraith weapons impact, "we're detecting another ship. Scans of the hull have the name on the saucer section as USS Voyager."

"You're kidding me," yelled Lisa she rushed to the young man's console, nearly stumbling to the young man's seat, while the Persephone was shaking from several hits.

"We're being hailed," said Kagawa as Lisa looked at the screen in front of her on the console. She could clearly see the ship's name, but unlike the Enterprise.. she couldn't read any matter-antimatter reactions coming from the Warp Core.

"Put them through," said Lisa as she tried to remember what she had seen years ago on the crystal-embed set that belonged to her father.

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager, and…"

While the Captain was continuing to speak, thanking the Persephone for her timely intervention, Major Williams told Lisa that he was detecting Huron energy signals from the hull of the Superhive, and from inside Voyager.

"How many?" asked Lisa as the ship shook before she could respond to the Captain.

"Port and Ventral shields at eighty percent," exclaimed another member of the crew.

"Evasive manoeuvres," ordered Lisa, "focus all fire on the Wraith hyperdrive."

"I'm reading eight replicators on Voyager, including ninety one Wraith," said one of the crew.

"Ma'am," said Kagawa as Lisa turned back to look over the young man's shoulder at the screen. Her eyes widened at the scans of the six Wraith transports that were sticking out from various decks, "confirmation that they've definitely got Wraith in there."

"Captain Janeway," said Lisa after ordering Kagawa to connect her to Voyager, "my name is Colonel Lisa Summers of the Tau'ri warship Persephone. We've run a scan on your vessel, I take it that you've been boarded?"

"Yes," answered Janeway while Tuvok's right eye-brow arched upwards upon hearing the word, 'Tau'ri'. Janeway noticed the movement, and was about to ask a question when Lisa contacted her again.

"Captain, in ten seconds we'll have two more ships coming through," she said, "right now, with our shields up, we'll be unable to beam any help over to your ship. Our scans are reading ninety one… no, make that eighty seven intruders remaining. Once those ships are in range, I will have them beam the Wraith out of your ship? These creatures are dangerous."

"Out where?" asked Janeway as she and Tuvok watched the violence outside as both the Persephone and the Wraith ship fired at each other with all their weapons, "Colonel, where do you intend to beam them? Do you have prisons, or…"

"Into space, Captain," said Lisa as the Persephone shook from multiple blasts. Tuvok and the Captain looked at each other, horror written on her face as she imagined the cold voice that advocated the killing of nearly eighty sentient life-forms. However, Janeway also had to weigh the safety of her crew and Voyager itself.. that the ship could fall into the hands of an unknown alien race.

"Is there any way to negotiate with these aliens," said the Captain as she was reconnected to Lisa, "any way to get them to surrender?"

"Your crew have already killed…"

"Yes, to protect my crew and defend this ship," said Janeway, "but if we can stop this invasion before killing anyone else, then that would be preferred. Perhaps…"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Captain. These aliens are known as the Wraith," said Lisa, "they're a race that only see's humans, or any living thing on two legs that eats and breathes, as food. We're here to stop them. In the meantime, I urge you and your crew to use continue using lethal force against them… they will not be merciful. The first chance they get, they will feed on your life-force."

"Captain," said Tuvok as he looked at the scans Voyager for life-signs, "the crew is still alive."

"Colonel Summers," said Janeway, "my Chief of Security has just informed me that the crew are still alive."

"That's even worse, Captain," said Lisa as the Persephone continued to fire, just as two more hyperspace windows opened up and out came the Daedalus and the Odyssey. Once they exited the Hyperspace window, the two ships started to fire all their beam weapons, and railguns at the Wraith ship. In the meantime, Lisa continued to speak to the Captain while the anti-replicator weapon was at eighty percent, "they are going to be stored as food on the Superhive. The Wraith will feed on them later. Your crew is in danger. The Wraith are an existential threat to the galaxy, they will feed on every living being… and that is not me being dramatic. Stand by."

"Marcus!" yelled Lisa as she got to her chair while the ship trembled, "connect me to the Odyssey and Daedelus."

"Connected, ma'am," came the reply.

"Lt. Colonel Singh, Lt. Colonel Lee, this is Colonel Lisa Summers, I need you to drop shields. We'll cover you. I need you to target every single Wraith on Voyager, and beam them out into space."

"Understood," said both of the Daedalus class commanders as both ships came about and headed towards Voyager while the Persephone moved to go in-between the Wraith ship and the Federation vessel. The Persephone continued to fire while the Anti-Replicator weapon was charged up to ninety-percent.

"Captain," said Tuvok as he looked at his scanners, "I am detecting energy surges throughout the ship."

"More attacks?"

"The Wraith have been transported off the ship," said Tuvok as Janeway turned her head to the man, "our external sensors and transporters are damaged. I am unable to confirm if there are any life signs among the…"

"There's nothing we could do," whispered the Captain as she looked out at the view-screen. A part of her regretted what just happened but she kept on telling herself that her crew and ship were in danger, the Captain then turned back to Tuvok, "can you transfer auxiliary power to the torpedo bays. Can we fire on the alien vessel?"

"We can," answered Tuvok as he pressed a few buttons when the Doctor told her that the aliens had just breached sick-bay when they vanished in flashes of bright white light. The Captain then told all over her communication badge that the Wraith invasion was over, and then she ordered personnel to report damages and injuries before she turned to the view screen.

"Fire once the Persephone is away," Janeway said looking out the view screen at the Persephone moving off, the massive ship was successful in blocking the firepower from the Superhive so that the Odyssey and the Daedelus could do their jobs, and then return to the battle.

"Captain," said Lisa as the Odyssey moved off and started to fire on the Superhive once again, "Voyager is clear of all Wraith, but you have another enemy of ours on your ship… stand by."

"Understood," the Captain said, "Colonel, we're transferred some power to weapons, we'd like to coordinate a strike on any vital system on the Wraith vessel."

"Understood," said Lisa before ordering Major Williams to send Voyager the coordinates for the hyperdrive.

"We have received coordinates, Captain," said Tuvok.

"Fire," ordered Janeway. Three photon torpedoes fired from the forward bays and impacted the hull of the Wraith ship. The resulting matter-antimatter explosions created weak spots in the armour, which cracked upon getting continuously hit by plasma fire, railgun rounds, and three more photon torpedoes before there was a massive explosion which took out the hyperdrive.

"The ship's, not going anywhere, Captain," said Lisa as Janeway nodded her head, "we have eight more ships coming through to destroy this vessel. Do you require medical aid?"

"I have a little over fifty people injured, Colonel," said Janeway before she asked the question that she knew was on both of her and Tuvok's minds, "but what do you and your people want in exchange? We have never heard of the Tau'ri, are you from a nearby planet?"

"We're just here to help, Captain," said Lisa when she was told that the anti-replicator weapon was ready to fire. Lisa nodded her head before telling the helm on her ship to fire the weapon at just the right angle so that one blast would take care of both the Wraith ship and Voyager, and then she went back to speaking with Janeway, "but I have a feeling that my superiors would like to meet with you."

It was at that moment that the rest of the task force arrived, much to Janeway's surprise, and began blasting the Wraith superhive with all their weapons. Back in the hallway, Naomi's hand was shaking in terror as she held onto the phaser tightly. She stared at the spot where the dead body of the Wraith vanished in white light. The Wraith reached out for her earlier, and the little girl panicked. She took the phaser out of Samantha's holster, not knowing that it was already set to the 'kill' setting, and then pressed down on the firing button and held it down. A few minutes after she killed the Wraith, the body was gone and then an energy wave spread through both ships from the Persephone. The wave destroyed the nanites in the Superhive's hull, and all human form replicators in both ships. However, there was one unintended consequence.

As the wave passed through him, Oberoth was obliterated, as were the Asuran nanites in Seven's blood which were injected by him. In addition, the wave also affected the Borg nanoprobes in her blood stream. She looked at the pile of dust in front of her while panting before she tried to get up to her feet. However, Seven stumbled back down and grabbed her head… there was an intense stinging sensation that went through her entire body as she lay down and screamed once again.

"Naomi!" yelled Chakotay as he approached her location.

The little girl dropped the phaser before getting up and cautiously heading out of the recess, and into the hallway where she saw Chakotay running towards her.

"Chakotay! Mom's hurt!" yelled the little girl as Chakotay kneeled down and made sure that the tearful Naomi wasn't injured before leaning down and checking Samantha's pulse. Sighing in relief, Chakotay told the little girl that her mother was alive.

Back on the bridge, Chakotay informed the Captain that Naomi was safe and sound, and that Samantha was unconscious, but alive. He then told the Captain that he was going to restore the turbo-lifts to operational readiness so that medical teams could get to those who were injured. Janeway acknowledged the message while she and Tuvok watched the nine ships attack the Wraith vessel relentlessly before the Persephone blocked Voyager's view screen.

"Captain," said Tuvok as he looked at his screen while reports came in from all over the ship, "we have an additional twenty crewmen injured, and I regret to inform you that ten more have died in the defence of the ship."

Janeway closed her eyes and nodded her head, she had already lost twenty of her crew in a little of six minutes, with a little over eighty people injured, and more reports were coming in on the damage that was done to their ship. Tuvok told her that there were no signs of the Borg nanoprobes in the ships systems after the energy wave passed through the Wraith ship and Voyager. It was that sentence which make Janeway narrow her eyes before asking Tuvok if sensors managed to identify the energy wave.

Tuvok looked at his scanners, and then shook his head.

"Ca… Captain," said Seven. Janeway could clearly hear that she was in distress before she asked Tuvok to find her location, and then responded with asking if she was alright.

"Pa.. pain," was the reply as Seven's hands started to shake, and her head twitched with the destruction of all her nanoprobes, "I… I…"

Once Tuvok told Janeway the location Seven's signal, the Captain headed for the turbo-lift behind her while telling Seven that she was on the way. She then called the Doctor and ordered her to meet at Seven's location, that Seven sounded as if she was in great pain. She called for the lift just as Tuvok called for her again. Janeway headed to Tuvok's side just as the turbo-lift door opened, and looked out at the view screen only to see the flare of an explosion since the Persephone was blocking their view. Tuvok told Janeway that sensors were reading a massive explosion just as the Persephone's shields flared violently as it was getting hit by debris that would have otherwise hit Voyager, which would have been destroyed with her shields down.

Just as a massive piece of debris, as well as thousands of Wraith floated by in open space, Janeway shook her head and turned around. She stepped into the turbo-lift and told Tuvok that he had the bridge.

Tuvok nodded his head, and looked out at the view screen as the Persephone moved off, only to show the floating debris of the superhive still erupting in explosions while the Tau'ri ships destroyed what remained.

"Summers to Captain Janeway."

"This is Lt. Commander Tuvok."

"Commander," said Lisa, "we're prepared to sent medical personnel to help tend to any injured. In addition, my superior officer would like to have a talk once everything has been settled down."

"I will notify, Captain Janeway, stand-by," said Tuvok before contacting Janeway though her comm.-badge. The woman was already running through a hallway past crewmen and women who were tending to each other. She told Chakotay to head to the Mess Hall where the other injured were being treated as best they could by Voyagers remaining two nurses, the other three were badly injured in the initial strike on the ship. Janeway ordered the medical personnel in the sickbay and Chakotay to tell the medical personnel their procedures while working on the injured. With the doctor running through the hallway, it was left to his assistant to work with the Tau'ri personnel.

Chakotay arrived at the Mess Hall with Naomi in his arms just as Janeway and the Doctor reached Seven who was lying next to a ple of silver dust. Chakotay then told Tuvok to send the Tau'ri shps the coordinates for the Mess Hall and the Sickbay. Chakotay then ordered everyone who was able to take out a phaser, just to be on the safe side, and set it to stun. Just as three flashes of bright white light deposited medical personnel in the Mess Hall and Sickbay, the Doctor took out his medical tricorder and scanned Seven who was struggling to breathe while Janeway held onto her.

"It can't be," said the Doctor as he looked at the readings on his device.

"What?" asked Janeway as Seven started to grit her teeth and convulse violently.

"Ca… Captain," rasped Seven as she grabbed Janeway's arm, fear in her eyes before releasing a scream as the implant on her cheek and over her right eyebrow fel off and hit the floor.

"Doctor!" yelled the Captain as three crewmembers made it to their location.

"Her nanoprobes are all gone," said the Doctor with surprise on his face as he looked up at the equally stunned expression on Captain Janeway, "those nanoprobes maintain her implants and body functions… and I'm already seeing her implants starting to degrade."

"Do you still have those modified nanoprobes we used against Species 8479?"

"No," said the doctor as he continued scanning, his hands shaking as he tried to remain professional, "I.. I'm detecting an odd energy signature around Seven, and… and her cortical nodes are starting to fail.. her heart, kidneys… we need to get her to sickbay. Maybe I could place her in stasis until we get…"

"Tuvok," said Janeway through her comm.-badge, "I need a site-to-site transport to the Sickbay, Seven's badly hurt and…"

"Transporters are still unavailable, Captain," said Tuvok while Chakotay looked over at the injured Neelix who was being taken care of by one of the Persephone's medical staff.

"Her synaptic pathways are degrading," said the doctor with his eyes wide open, "Captain, we need to carry her back to the sickbay."

"I need you two to get whoever you can to the sickbay or Mess Hall," said Janeway as she pointed at the two crewmen, "move!"

"Understood," they replied before moving off. Janeway and the Doctor then were about to carry Seven when Chakotay told them over the comm-badge that a doctor was being sent to their location, accompanied by Neelix. The doctor insisted that they had no time to wait, and it was possible that the aliens who helped them may not know human-Borg physiology.

"These people are human," said Chakotay as Janeway and the Doctor looked at each other while he placed Seven in his arms and then stood up, "I was surprised too."

"Understood," said Janeway as they made their way down the hallway. It would be a few minutes later that the two of them would make contact with Neelix and a middle-aged man in a white coat running towards them when they got out of the turbolift.

"Captain," said Neelix as he ran through the hallway, "this is Dr. Philip Drumm from the Persephone.

"Captain," said the bald, middle-aged, dark skinned man as he rushed towards the unconscious Seven who was in the Doctor's arms. Janeway nodded her head at the man, her mind swimming with so many questions, the first of all being how it was that another group of humans lived in the Delta Quadrant with technology that she was sure that groups like the Borg and the Kazon would be trying to obtain. Pushing those question away for later, she and the Doctor saw the man take out a probe attached to a small tablet. Just like with the medical tricorder's probe, Dr. Drumm hovered the probe over her body while the Doctor insisted that he had already done the same thing and was sure that Dr. Drumm would find the same results.

"Perhaps, Doctor?" said Dr. Drumm before asking for the Doctor's name.

"I'm a hologram, I have no name," said the Doctor, which made Dr. Drumm look up at him in amazement.

"A hologram?" asked Dr. Drumm, "wow… umm… sorry.. back to the patient."

The tablet started to beep before Dr. Drumm looked down at Seven's readings on the tablet, and his eye narrowed in confusion.

"I'm reading implants with a Replicator signature," said Dr. Drum as he looked up from the tablet, to Seven, "she's not a human form Replicator or else she would have been dust. Captain, are you aware that she had implants in her made by Replicators?"

"What are Replicators?" asked the Doctor.

"She's used to be a Borg drone who we…"

"The Borg?" asked Dr. Drumm as Neelix and the others looked at him in confusion.

"You're from the Delta Quadrant and you don't know about the Borg?" asked Janeway confused.

"My superiors can explain, Captain," said Drumm, "the energy wave that we fired was supposed to take out all replicators nanobots and human-from replicators."

"She had Borg nanoprobes that regulated her implants," said the Doctor, "and somehow, that wave affected her and…"

"Doctor, Captain, Neelix, I never heard of the Borg," said Drumm, "but I can tell you that I am detecting a Replicators signature in her implants, and… her pathways are degrading."

"Which is why I was going to place her in stasis," said the doctor, "and why we need to go now."

"How long can she be held in stasis before her synaptic pathways have totally degraded?" asked Drumm as they rushed to the turbolift.

"I can replicate a genetic therapy that'll stabilize her in forty eight hours," said the Doctor as the turbolift doors closed, and the lift moved up to the deck with the sickbay, "we can hold her in stasis for four days."

"Captain," said Drumm as the doors opened again, "let me talk to Colonel Summers. We have stasis pods on board the Persephone that can slow the damage from spreading for several months. We've already begun treating your people, but we cannot help the dead… and this woman will die if you cannot get the genetic therapy done in time."

'Doctor?" asked Janeway as they stepped out of the turbolift as more crew, mostly those who were slightly injured, were helping those who were badly injured to the sickbay.

"If we can slow down the degradation of her mind and body," said the Doctor, "then it'll give me more time to come up with a solution. "

"Do it," said Captain Janeway.

"Dr. Drumm to Colonel Summers."

"This is Summers," said Lisa as she talked with Jon and Lee 'Apollo' Adama who beamed onto the Persephone to discuss their next step while the others continued destroying any trace of the Wraith superhive.

"Ma'am, I have Captain Janeway with me, along with the ship's holographic doctor," said Drumm while Lisa and Jon looked at each other with a grin on their faces, while Apollo was asking them on the significance of that knowledge. Jon told the man that he'll explain the intricacies of 'Star Trek' to him at another time before Drumm told them about Seven, and then asked them if there were any race called the Borg in their database.

"The Borg?" asked Jon and Lisa together.

"The wave was only meant for Replicators," said Jon.

"I know, sir," said Drumm, "but here we are. She's dying, and… well, I'd like permission to place her in stasis on the Persephone."

"Stand by," said Lisa before looking at Jon and then at Lee, "sirs, Starfleet already knows we exist, maybe we could help who I think Dr. Drumm's talking about, and at the same time explain to Captain Janeway and her staff who we really are. It could be a first step in forming diplomatic relations with Earth, and the Federation."

"You're talking about bringing them back to Atlantis?" asked Jon.

"Is that the right thing to do?" asked Apollo.

"Yes. But I don't think we tell them the truth about us, at least not yet," said Jon, "if they're anything like on the shows, then it's better to for them to guage us on what we did to defeat the Goa'uld and the others. Based on that, if the Federation still wants to pursue some kind of diplomatic relationship with the Tau'ri and the Alliance after returning Voyager home, then we could tell them the truth. I'll bring it up with General Rosenberg through a sub-space message."

"Captain Janeway's reaction could be similar to what we get from…"

"Persephone," said Drumm interrupting Lisa as they ran to the sickbay with Seven's implants bursting through her skin; blood and technology falling onto the floor, "we need an answer. The degradation's faster than we thought. The wave did something to her Borg-Replicator implants! No time for the Stasis pods… and… we need to get her to Lantea."

"Getting there will take twelve hours," said Apollo.

"Williams," said Lisa as she looked over her shoulder, "check the database for any Stargates in the immediate vicinity that have been buried."

"Found one," said Major Williams a few seconds later, "the one on P4R-675… it's buried under a mountain."

"Sir?" asked Lisa.

"Do it," said Jon, "I'll contact General Rosenberg; she'll get everything set."

"Captain," said Dr. Drumm just as he received confirmation from Lisa over his ear piece. The Doctor and Janeway were entering Sickbay with Dr. Drumm following close behind when the latter mentioned the best way would be to back-up her memories and then create a cloned body.

"Excuse me?" asked the Doctor as he placed Seven on a bio-bed which had been occupied by B'Ellana who quickly hopped off after she told the Captain that she felt better, and that she was ready to head to engineering to try repair the warp core. The Captain nodded her head while the other crew members were being examined, some of whom earlier had minor injuries which were already healed going back out to their duty assignments.

"Seven?" asked B'Ellana as she and Janeway looked down at the former drone who gritted her teeth as more implants dropped onto the floor, "what's going on?"

"Captain," said Tuvok from the bridge through her comm-badge, "a General Jon O'Neill is requesting permission to come on board. He would like to speak to you, he said it is urgent."

"Do it," said Janeway just before there was a whining sound, followed by a flash of white light. Neelix, Janeway, and B'Ella turned around to see a man in a black and blue uniform with a white coloured triangle, and a circle floating over it, just above his left breast.

"General O'Neill," said Dr. Drumm, "we don't have much time."

"Captain Janeway, I presume?" asked Jon as he tried to hide the need to smile on his face as he turned to the dark haired captain after nodding at Drumm.

"General," said Janeway nodding her head before introducing B'Ellana, and then Neelix.

Jon was glad that the pictures of Klingon's he had seen on the shows were accurate as he looked at the blonde Chief Engineer, and then at Neelix who had a nervous smile on his face. He then glanced behind them at the blond woman in the silver jumpsuit, and then shook his head before turning to the Captain.

"I'm not trying to step on your toes, Captain," said Jon, "we're just here to help you and your people. We can help your friend, but we need to beam her out of here and take her to our base. We have facilities and allies there who would be able to clone her a new body, and…"

"A new human body?" asked Janeway.

"Yes," said Jon before he looked around and saw some of the ones who were badly wounded being tended to by both Voyager and Tau'ri nurses. He told Janeway that he didn't want anyone else to die.. not if they could be saved, "I've talked to my Commanding Officer, and she's asked us to bring you and your ship back to our base as well. From what we know based on our scans, your power is low and your main power-plant is offline. Plus you have hull breaches on a few decks. You're more than welcome to land and conduct repairs at our base while your crew gets some rest. And once you've rested, we'll help you get to Earth."

"How will..." a stunned Janeway was then interrupted by Doctor Drumm telling them they were running out of time.

"I'm just asking for a little trust, Captain," said Jon gently, "if it makes you comfortable, you can send someone with your friend to…"

'Seven," said Janeway as a smile appeared on Jon's face before he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, mentally telling himself to calm down, "her name is Seven."

"Captain, I can go," Neelix said.

"And I am her physician, and…" the Doctor insisted.

"You're needed here, Doctor," said Janeway as she looked over her shoulder, and then turned back to Jon. Janeway wanted to go as well, but she knew that Tuvok was right… she needed to be on the ship… that the crew would be looking to her for reassurance. She couldn't leave them, not now; so she nodded her head at Jon. Once Neelix and Seven were beamed away, Jon took a step towards Janeway before saying that Seven was going to be safe.

"I hope you're right, General," said Janeway before being told by Tuvok that the Persephone had left through a subspace breach.

"Understood," said Janeway while B'Ellana asked Jon where their base was located.

"That's a little bit of a surprise," said Jon, "it'll take us twenty four hours to tow you guys through Hyperspace."

"Hyperspace," repeated Janeway, "is that the area of subspace where we detected the unique radiation?"

"It's a region of subspace that lets us reach our destination faster than any other type of faster than light travel," smiled Jon, "but towing a ship through it uses a lot of energy, so it takes longer. Ordinarily it would take twelve hours. Anyway, once we've reached our base, we can talk about everything."

"Very well," said Janeway before turning towards B'Ellana, "report to Engineering, I want to make sure that we at least have impulse power. And then begin repairs on the warp core."

"To save power," said Jon as he looked at B'Ellana, "you could use our matter-conversion technology to create whatever materials you need."

"Thank you," said B'Ellana before turning back to the Capitan who nodded her head just as Samantha and several others were brought into the sickbay. The Doctor and Dr. Drumm, as well as their nurses, continued to take care of the incoming wounded. B'Ellana then rushed out as Janeway turned to Jon, and sighed.

"Hell of a day?" asked Jon.

"You have no idea, General," said Janeway before they got out of the sickbay, and headed to the bridge while the captain called for Chakotay to meet her there. It was a few minutes later that Jon was shaking hands with Tuvok and Chakotay. In the meantime, the Persephone exited hyperspace two minutes later with Lisa, who had left the bridge to meet her guests in the infirmary, standing next to Neelix. They watched the medical personnel place Seven into life-support as a domed shield appeared over and around her body.

"What are they doing?" whispered Neelix who hadn't been able to really talk to Lisa as he normally would, all thanks to the intense worry that was going through his body.

"They are preparing her for transport, and…"

"Colonel Summers," said Major Williams'' voice through speakers, "we have reached the planet, and the Gate has beamed beamed to Cargo Bay 1."

"Attach the power generator, and then begin dialling. Send the IDC once there is a connection," said Lisa as she motioned at the nurses, who then pushed the floating gurney out of the large room with Lisa and Neelix following closely. They walked up to the end of the hallway while Lisa stopped, and then pressed a screen that contained a schematic of the ship on the wall. She then followed the group into a recess where doors behind them closed, and they were covered in a flash of light. The doors in front of them then opened up and the group rushed down the hallway to Cargo Bay One. Upon reaching the Cargo Bay, Neelix stood with Lisa, the former staring with his mouth dropped at the shimmering blue water-like pool in the middle of a stone ring which had attached to it a glowing green crystal.

"What the…" asked Neelix before losing his voice as Lisa placed a hand on his shoulder gently while asking an officer if they received clearance.

"Yes, ma'am," was the reply, "the shield has been lowered, and our guests have been cleared through."

"Major Williams," said Lisa after tapping her ear piece, "head for Lantea once we have left. You know where to drop off the Stargate."

"Understood," said the Major while Neelix whispered.

"Stargate?"

"Come on," said Lisa as she guided Neelix towards the blue portal, "It's like walking from one room to another."

"But…" said Neelix Just as the nurses pushed Seven's bed through the portal, "hey, wait.."

Neelix ran through the blue shimmer after Seven, only to find himself standing in a large room where several people were checking on Seven while a woman with red hair was walking down a central staircase in a hurry. She was flanked by a smiling woman with dark black hair, cut short to her shoulders, and next to her was a man whose hair was completely white, and had a golden tattoo on his forehead. Surprised, Neelix looked around at the high walls, and then behind him at the portal which disengaged once Lisa had waked through with her hands in her pockets.

"Where… where am I?" asked Neelix as he looked at Lisa, and then turned towards the redhead, "I…."

"Hello," said the redhead, "my name is General Willow Rosenberg, commander of the Tau'ri forces in Pegasus."

"I'm on Pegasus?" asked Neelix as he shook Willow's outstretched hand. It was then that he apologized, saying that he was still surprised by arriving on a planet called Pegasus through a portal on a ship. He then introduced himself before returning to the question of how he got to 'Pegasus'.

"Before we continue," said Willow a smile as she sensed his excitement and fear through her empathic abilities, "let me introduce you to Teal'c, leader of the Free Jaffa Nation, and this is Faith Lehane, leader of one of our off-world teams, SG-1."

"Hello," said Neelix nodding his head.

"As for where you are?" said Faith, "You're on a planet called Lantea, three million light years from the Milky Way."

"Excuse me?" asked a surprised Neelix, "i.. I think I'm hearing things, but did you just say there million light years?"

"You're in the Pegasus galaxy," said Faith.

"On a city known as Atlantis," said Teal'c.

"I…."

"Voyager will be coming here for repairs, and so that the crew can rest before we take them home," said Willow, "but in the meantime, I'm guessing you'd like to be with your friend."

"O… yes… yes, please," Neelix said, unsure of what to think. One thing he knew he needed right now, was to be with someone he already knew… his friend… while he tried to accept the possibility of being in another galaxy after stepping through a blue coloured portal. Willow asked Lisa to take Neelix to Bio-Lab One where Thor and Heimdall were already waiting for them. While Lisa guided the still stunned Neelix through to the lab, Willow released a sigh as Faith placed her hand on the redhead's back.

"It's over," said Willow with a small smile, "the Wraith are finished."

"Indeed," Teal'c replied as Neelix and Lisa turned into a corner, "and now we will be meeting representatives from…"

"Oh yea," said Faith with a smirk on her face, "Voyager? Come on, you gotta know that's going to be cool."

"Bit surprised Neelix has got whiskers," continued Faith before shaking her head and wondering out loud how many things were different in the shows, when compared to real life.

"We'll soon find out," said Willow, "but first, I'll let the Council and Cordy know.. and then I'm going to celebrate this day with Dawn."

"Where is she anyway?"

"Archaeological expedition," said Willow, "with Daniel, Anna, and a few others."

"Would Dawn Summers not want to know of this development with Voyager?" asked Teal'c.

"Oh yeah," replied Willow perking up before a grin appeared on her face, "and she's going to be so pissed that I've made first contact with someone from Voyager."

"That's cruel," chuckled Faith, "you know it's her favourite show."

"And you're jealous that Lisa got to speak with Picard," said Willow looking at Faith, "and she saw the Enterprise."

"Don't rub it in," huffed faith as she crossed her arms over her chest, "and just so you know, Xander was miffed, so was Violet, Rona, and a few of the other Slayers, then you have Jack, Teal'c and…"

"Let's see how this first contact goes," said Willow interrupting her wife while placing her arm around her shoulders, "maybe this could be the start of a friendship between us and the Federation."

"Let us see," said Teal'c while Faith nodded her head.

TBC.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Captain's Ready Room, USS Voyager, ten minutes into hyperspace.**

Janeway was standing with her hands behind her back as she looked out the view ports and into the blue and white tunnel they were flying in. She glanced up at the underside of the Vantage, and then turned around.

"Computer," said Janeway, a beep sounding, as she walked down a step and towards her table.

"Captain's Log, supplemental."

Then there was another beep as she sat down on her chair, and spoke when she saw her own face on the computer screen in front of her.

"It has been a little over an hour since Seven and Neelix were beamed onto the Persephone which then left for the Tau'ri's home base. General O'Neill, the commander of what he called Task Force Omega, which was formed to deal with the Wraith threat, left for the Vantage a few minutes after introducing himself. I had many questions for him, but before I could ask, he told us that we were leaving for their new home world where we would get the answers we wanted. It was the 'new' that had me thinking where their old home world used to be. With only the Vantage remaining after the other ships had gone through the breaches into subspace, I still had plenty of questions in my head. It took a few minutes for the Persephone's medical staff, working with our Doctor and staff, to revive the senior staff and a majority of the crew; apparently they were shot with stun weapons, the modus operandi of the Wraith so that they could cull human beings."

Janeway then leaned back on the chair as a shiver went up her spine when she recalled Lisa telling her that the Wraith fed on life-force. She then sighed and continued her log.

"At least according to the General. He told me that they had been at war with the Wraith for a little over a hundred years, and in that time, many lives were lost. It's something that made me question the man, especially since we haven't heard of the Wraith from any of the races we have encountered in the Delta quadrant. However, Tuvok has heard of the Tau'ri... at least, he heard rumours of them through the Vulcan High Command. "

The Captain frowned while rubbing her chin before continuing with her log once again.

"Just before General O'Neill left, I brought up what Tuvok told me about the rumours of genocide caused by the Tau'ri on an alien race of parasites known as the Goa'uld. The Vulcan's were aware of the existence of the Goa'uld, and the fact that their empire was powerful and vast stretching from the Beta to the Alpha quadrant, and some parts of the Gamma quadrant. He told the General that the Vulcan High Command heard stories of a new group that suddenly rose to power and annihilated the Goa'uld in a war that lasted for nearly twenty years. The General showed no reaction to the war, however Tuvok did mention that the General was slightly agitated when the Goa'uld was mentioned. Either way, finding out that a great galactic power was completely and utterly destroyed brings about more questions than answers."

"How is it that no one from the Federation has mentioned the Goa'uld? Could it be like what Chakotay said, that these people simply chose to wipe any mention of the Goa'uld from their history? If so, then how many Federation members other than the Vulcans know about the Goa'uld? Could that knowledge had been forgotten over the generations since the war was fought centuries ago?"

The Captain then leaned forward towards the computer and rubbed her forehead before continuing.

"I asked General O'Neill all these questions, but all he could tell me was that his Commanding Officer would explain things to me. But the knowledge that these people have committed genocide is making me feel... I can't explain it… it feels uncomfortable. All I keep on wondering is if I made the right choice in letting them take Seven and Neelix. Then again, I keep telling myself that Seven could have died if she remained on board Voyager."

"I hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. B'Ellana is already working on the warp core and impulse engines with her engineering team, while others have been working on getting back the transporters. Sensors are still glitching, and so I've ordered Ensign Kim to gather a team to take a look at them. All the crew handling damaged systems over the ship are from Starfleet; given that Voyager has the latest Starfleet technology, I have asked General O'Neill that our people handle all repairs."

"He agreed, though he did loan us one of their matter converters in lieu of our replicator systems which would have taken more of our auxiliary power reserves. Once engineers from the Vantage helped us connect the converter to our systems, they left Voyager. It's an interesting piece of technology, very much like our replicators, but with an independent power source that B'Ellana still hasn't been able to understand."

The Captain then chuckled as she recalled the look of amazement on B'Ellana's face when she said that the power source was unlike anything she had seen before, and that she needed time to scan the device.

"All she asked me was to give her an hour, and then she'll have something."

"Whoever these Tau'ri are, they are more or less on an equal footing with the Federation in terms of technology. The biggest differences I have seen so far are in power generation, and their method of faster than light travel. Just before entering hyperspace, the Vantage locked a tractor beam onto us, while releasing a high powered graviton wave that tore a breach into what the General referred to as hyperspace. It's a similar method of travel I know that Starfleet had been experimenting on without any success. Perhaps the Tau'ri could help us in that regard. However, given the myth that surrounds them about the genocide of this Goa'uld race, I have to wonder if they are fit for membership in the Federation.. or if the Federation would want to have any diplomatic relations. All I know is that they have helped save my crew and Voyager, and I will be grateful for that.. but in the end, everything else lies with Starfleet and the Federation."

Janeway then closed her log and turned her chair to look out at the hyperspace tunnel. She was told that it would take about a day and a half to get to their location. All the Captain could do now was wait, and hope that Neelix and Seven were all right.

**Science Lab One, Atlantis.**

Lisa was standing by Neelix's side while they stood at the doorway to Science Lab One as they watched two five foot tall grey skinned aliens with large black eyes, and three other humans retract the shield around Seven's body, and then place her into another horizontal pod. They watched as a piece of clear glass covered the pod while it moved to a vertical position, and then back into a recess in the wall.

"Lisa Summers," said one of the grey aliens who was simply wearing a tight vest and long pants, "our scanners are showing implants in her body that contain a Replicator bio-signature."

"What are Replicators?" asked Neelix as he looked at the aliens, and then at Lisa.

"A race of machines that nearly annihilated the Milky Way," Lisa replied while a white light flashed in the pod which held Seven's unconscious body, "they were a race of nanites created by a very ancient race.."

"Which race?" interrupted Neelix.

"The race were known as the Ancients," said one of the grey aliens, "my people were at war with the Replicators for thousands of years. And we were losing."

"Thor and Heimdall's race are one of the oldest and most powerful races in three galaxies," said Lisa as Neelix turned his head sharply at her with his mouth open, about to say something. However, Lisa beat him to the punch as she said, "we helped them find a way to defeat the Replicators during our war with the Goa'uld. And we've been allies ever since then."

"Colonel Summers," said Heimdall as he looked at a screen, "this woman's cranial implants has stored memories of events that would not fit into a mind of a normal human."

"She.. she used to be a Borg drone," said Neelix who was still trying to wrap his mind around what little he had been told about the Asgard and the Replicators, "she has the memories and knowledge of all the people that the Borg assimilated."

"We've heard the Borg mentioned before," said Lisa who pretended not to know anything about the race of mechanical beings who seemed to have something to do with the Replicators. However, the truth was that she wasn't sure what that relationship was.. and she doubted that they would ever find out, "what are they? We were frankly surprised that Seven here was affected at all, the energy wave we fired was specifically tuned to destroy any and all Replicator nanites and nanocells."

Neelix then went on to explain the Borg to the six of them. Once he was done, he saw Thor and Heimdall looking at each other, while the humans were manning various consoles, and then at Lisa who frowned. Neelix asked her, as Voyager's ambassador, if the Tau'ri and Asgard could help fight the Borg.. who were a threat to the entire galaxy.

"That's way above my pay grade, Mr. Neelix," said Lisa, "you'd have to talk to General Rosenberg about that."

"Colonel," interrupted Thor, "her memories?"

"We can wipe those memories away," said Heimdall, "but that may cause unknown repercussions."

"Seven's knowledge, her memories are one part of who she is to us," said Neelix who was wildly waving his hands about while shaking his head, "I don't think the crew would want to have her any differently."

"Is there any way to use our nanites to replace the ones she lost?" asked Lisa.

"We have already backed up her memories into a crystal," said Thor as he motioned to a blue crystal that was horizontally embedded into a wall next to a screen, "and just in time. Her synaptic pathways have already been eroded. Her implants have been degraded as well without the nanites to regulate them."

"As you are aware, Colonel Summers," said Heimdall, "the nanites are capable of slowing the aging process and aiding in the healing of major injuries, but it cannot revive the dead as per the Ethical Doctrine of the Pegasus Council. And the woman's body is already dead."

"We have already begun the cloning process," said Thor, "however, regarding her memories.. it would…"

"Please, keep all of her memories," said Neelix.

"Very well," said Thor as he pressed a few buttons, "we will genetically engineer her mind to hold all that information. The entire process will take two days to complete."

"Thank you," said Neelix looking at Seven while Lisa placed a hand on his back. He looked over at Lisa who nodded her head towards the door before asking him if he'd like something to eat.

"I don't think I can leave her like this," mumbled Neelix.

"It'll take two days for her new body to be created, and to make sure that there aren't any defective genes," said Lisa, "and from then on, she'll be as good as new. But for right now, you should eat, and since my ship's still on the way here, I can show you around the city."

"Ye.. yes," said Neelix nodding his head while looking at Seven's sleeping form. He was then guided out of the lab while Willow notified all staff of what was happening through their ear pieces, and ordered them not to reveal anything about the 'Star Trek' franchise to their guests. While Lisa started to show Neelix around the great city, Willow was placing two cups on her desk, along with a bottle of brown liquid. Willow got up and smiled at the woman on the other side of the glass door while she motioned her in.

"Hey," said Dawn excitedly as she skipped into Willow's office with a grin on her face after closing the door behind her, "is it true? Voyager's coming here? Neelix is here? Is he like the show or…"

"He's got whiskers," chuckled Willow as she poured the liquid into the glasses, filling up just a quarter of each glass before closing the bottle shut. Dawn chuckled as she reached out and grabbed the glass that Willow gave her, "but this isn't to discuss Voyager, at least not yet."

"I know," said Dawn as she looked at Willow while raising their glasses, "to all the Lanteans, to our friends and family who died protecting this city during the Lantean-Wraith war. This victory is for you."

"For you too, Dawnie," whispered Willow as she looked at Dawn, and remembered the day Buffy's younger sister died more than ten thousand years ago. Dawn, or Hera as she was once known before having the Key infused into her body by the Order of Dagon, had gone with a team to retrieve one of two ZPM that was stolen by the Wraith from a fleet the Lanteans had sent to discuss a truce. Instead of a truce negotiation, the Wraith used their superior numbers to kill them all and steal the two ZPM's to power their cloning facilities. Hera wanted to go with one of the teams that was supposed to retrieve the ZPM's, she hoped that she could talk to the Wraith through back-channels and convince them to start talks on a truce given the deaths on both sides.

However, Moros, the High Counsellor of Atlantis and the father to both Athena and Hera refused. So Hera went without permission, and was captured along with her team. Athena and Moros led rescue teams to retrieve Hera, but they weren't sure which one of two cloning facilities that she was taken to. So Athena went to one world, while Moros led a team to another world. However, soon after arriving on the Wraith held planet, Athena and most of her team were captured.

Back in Willow's office, the redhead still had flashbacks of how the Wraith keeper fed on Hera in front of her while she was wrapped in a cocoon. Willow remembered her own screams of anguish as she watched Hera's body turn into a dry husk, when Dawn brought Willow out of that memory by hugging her.

"This was for you," whispered Willow as she held on to the glass while hugging Dawn, "we made them pay for what they did to our people, we made them pay for what they did to you, we made them pay for forcing us to leave our home, and we made them pay for the terror they brought down on the humans in this galaxy since then.. and since the Atlantis Expedition arrived."

Dawn and Willow, Hera and Athena respectively, the last two original Lanteans and daughters of Atlantis, then stepped back and drank the liquid before hugging again. The war was finally over, and there was going to be a celebration when the Vantage and the other vessels returned.. the galaxy was finally free of the Wraith.

And now they could explore Pegasus in peace while placing more resources into the ship being built by a combined Pegasus team. The Destiny was in their sights, and they were not going to stop working to reach that ship.

It was thirty minutes later, while Willow and Dawn were laughing in the formers office, that Andrew Wells and Jonathan Levinson rushed into the room. The two of them had been recruited by the BPRI a year before the exodus from Earth after two months of terrorizing Sunnydale with their accomplice Warren Mears. The latter was responsible for the murder of three Potential Slayers in their quest to become the city's version of supervillains, calling themselves 'the Trio'. They had done numerous crimes using both magic and technology, and it had taken a combined team of Angel, the hybrid Vampire Kathy, and Spike, along with several witches including Tara who broke through powerful magic that had hid the self-styled super-villains from detection; the same magic that caused them to operate freely.

The magic was broken thanks to Jonathon and Andrew who approached the BPRI in secret and offered to help them crack Warren's magical defences in exchange for leniency. In the ensuing fight, Warren was killed after he nearly gutted Kennedy and Rona using various demons he raised from Hell. Once the fight was over, and the witches, vampires, and Slayers had defeated the demons; both Jonathan and Andrew were recruited into the BPRI under the watchful eye of the NID.

It would be a year later, after the attack on the SGC where Faith had her arm ripped off, that a nuclear missile fell on Sunnydale, wiping out everything and everyone that wasn't placed under the Ancient shield system installed at the sprawling complex several years earlier by the SGC. Jonathan and Andrew were told of the SGC's existence just after the SGC notified them, with NORAD notifying the other agencies and military bases around the world. Willow was commanding the USAF Talon, the latest Daedalus class ship, when a subspace call came in to all Earth vessels, a message from Prometheus Station which was breaking up. The last words she, and the other ship commanders around the galaxy, heard was that a virus had disabled all weapons, that life support was failing, and there was a nuclear attack on Earth.

The Talon, the Hammond, the Sun Tzu, and four other Daedalus class ships in the Milky Way were the first to arrive in orbit over Earth, followed by six Avalon class vessels a few seconds later. Everyone on the ships watched the aftermath of the exploded bombs; mushroom clouds rising over various cities from Washington D.C, to Los Angeles, to Berlin, to New York, and all the way to Moscow.

"Hammond to task force Alpha," said General Cameron Mitchell as he stared at the destruction before receiving word that the three stations had lost all transporter functions, "beam out personnel from the Shen Long, Europa, and Prometheus stations. And then run scans on the surface, and contact the SGC! Now!"

Jonathan and Andrew were huddled together with several thousand Sunnydale Residents; they were all those who the witches in residence, including Tara, could teleport away before the blast wave crashed against the Ancient shield that protected the BPRI compound. In the end, out of the six hundred thousand people in Sunnydale, only fourteen thousand, including family members, were teleported under the shield by Tara and the other witches… the consequences of which knocked them out from sheer exhaustion.

Jonathan was surprised to learn, upon being beamed on board the Talon, that Willow was one of many in command of Earth's own spaceships. But there wasn't any time to be excited before they were transported to the SGC where they were quickly spirited away to the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma sites.

Back in her office, Willow and Dawn stared at Andrew and Jonathan, both of whom were panting and pointing to a tablet in Andrew's hand. The both of them were researchers with SG-34 and SG-35 who were on break when the redhead sent the memo about Voyager.

"We would like to meet Neelix," said Jonathan as Willow frowned at her fellow Sunnydale High alum, "come on, Willow. Please? Pretty please? And it's Voyager.. I mean it's not the greatest of the franchise but it still has a cult following and…"

"Easy, easy," said Willow as she raised her hand, "Jonathan, Andrew, you know that we can't tell them about 'Star Trek' or…"

"Weren't you guys supposed to be researching the whole 'how come this is real?' stuff?" asked Dawn.

"There's like ten research teams working on this here and off-world, Dawn," said Andrew before turning back to look at Willow, "all we want to do is have him come to comic-con, and…"

"Ummm… no," said Willow shaking her head upon hearing of the annual event in the mainland which, like it's Earth Counterpart centuries ago, was well known throughout the galaxy and attracted people from all known races, "are you kidding me?"

"We can hide the 'Trek' stuff and…"

"No," Willow narrowed her eyes as them.

"Please?" asked Jonathan.

"No," repeated Willow while Dawn chuckled.

"You and Faith came in Star Fleet costumes last year and…"

"No," said Willow as she raised her eye-brows, "listen, what are you going to tell him if he asks why there are ships that look like Federation vessels? We can't tell him that their lives were somehow used to create a television show in the early twentieth century."

"But why?" whined Andrew.

"How would you feel if someone said that someone knew how your life would play out? And had made a series on it?"

"I'd watch that," said the both of them together whole Willow slapped her forehead before mumbling 'stupid question' to herself while Dawn giggled.

"You guys can talk to him, but you cannot tell him about.. you know," continued Willow as Anya, whose hair was already a faded blonde, rushed toward the redhead's office after running up the central staircase. She opened the office door, and stepped inside before closing it behind her.

"We found something," said Anya as she handed Willow a tablet, a look of excitement on her face. Willow took the tablet and then looked at the screen, reading the contents before looking back up at Anya.

"Your team's sure about this?" asked Willow looking up at Anya.

"We just got back from Korana," said Anya, referring to a recently discovered Lantean lab nearly fifty thousand light-years away, "we found some technology that we cross-referenced with the Atlantis database. That's the only piece of technology that's missing based on what the Lanteans were experimenting on in that lab."

"Its project clearance level is 'Omega Black'," said Willow with her eyes narrowed as she looked at the picture of the device, "that's rare."

"What is it?" Jonathan, Andrew, and Dawn while Giles was panting as he ran towards Willow's office, his hands grabbing onto the railing while his shaky legs was carrying him towards the door as Anya turned around and looked sheepishly at the man who only had hair around the back of his head. She then turned to Willow who said that the device could cause galactic level destruction if it fell into the wrong hands

"Which is why the lab had so much security around it," Anya said.

"Yea," said Dawn as she looked at the item on the tablet.

"I.. I told you to wait, Anya," rasped Giles as Dawn and Willow quickly got up, the former helping the older man take a seat while he was trying to catch a breath.

"Sorry," said Anya as she pointed at the tablet which showed an oval shaped stone, "but that's what we've been looking for. I know we stopped because, well… the Milky Way races were living their own lives before we got into time dilation again. And then we built up our forces for the war with the Wraith. Got out of time dilation, and then struck at the Wraith. But when we knew they were near the end and being pushed back, we went back out and… and well, we found this lab."

"Could that have something to do with the Federation?" asked Giles as Willow gave the panting man a glass of water while Anya patted the man's back.

"Something to do with the shows, maybe," said Dawn as she looked at the description of the experiment, "it's a device meant to connect the mind of anyone with the Ancient gene directly into subspace. The intention of the device, which was never finished by the way, was to offer glimpses into the future so that the viewer would gain knowledge on possible Wraith movements, tactics, and battle outcomes so that we could have a defence against them; all to turn the tide of the first war."

"So if it was unfinished, where is it?" asked Anya.

"Whoever was in charge of this project must have taken it with them during the exodus," said Willow as she sat on the edge of her table, and then at Anya, "so what are you saying? That it was finished and what? It didn't help the alliance to beat the Goa'uld?"

"Maybe the Lanteans who made this device saw into the future. That they were going to lose, and that the SGC would be formed to stop the Goa'uld eventually. Maybe the researchers were convinced that they needed to stop focusing on the Goa'uld, and instead started to focus on Ascension," said Dawn.

"You were ascended," said Giles looking at Dawn, "couldn't you have just… I mean… couldn't you have simply known about this device."

"The Ascended aren't gods, Giles, remember?" Dawn reminded him, "if I didn't know about this when I was alive, there's no way for me to check up on the Lantean who created it."

"And if our father knew about this, he didn't tell me," said Willow referring to the conversations she had with the older man up until the time he Ascended.

"So you saying that Mr. R got a hold of this device somehow and received images of the future?" asked Andrew.

"We had Daniel's and Vala's minds travel to the Ori galaxy using the Ancient communication stones," said Willow, "those devices connected to the other device in the Ori galaxy through subspace, so anything's possible. We still don't know if he received only glimpses of bits and pieces far into the future, or more like a streaming download of images being beamed into his mind while being connected to subspace. Basically, we don't know if everything that was shown on the shows really happened."

"Which means that some of the episodes never really happened?" asked Jonathan.

"He must have seen the Stargate too," said Dawn, "I mean this is the future... relatively speaking."

"Perhaps the Stargate was included in some form or another," said Giles.

"The Iconian gateways!!" exclaimed Andrew as he raised in hand in excitement, "that's…"

"That's more like a cross between a Stargate and a Quantum Mirror," said Jonathan.

"Nerds," mumbled Anya.

"This sucks," said Andrew while the others looked at him confused, "some of the episodes, maybe the best ones could have been… you know…. Faked? Did Kirk find the Guardian of Forever? Was Picard taken by the Borg? These are important questions."

"Even if they didn't happen," said Willow as she looked over Giles' head and saw Lisa walking with Neelix towards her office, the woman mentally telling Willow that Neelix suspects that they are really from Earth. Willow nodded her head while telling Jonathan that even if those incidents weren't true, the writers had creativity to seamlessly mesh their own stories with events that really happened in the future.

"General," said Lisa as she opened the door as Giles stood up and turned around, fixing his glasses while nodding his head at the alien while Anya straightened her dress and mumbling that Daniel should be in the office too. She then turned to Willow and whispered that Xander was going to kill them while, in the meantime, Jonathan, Andrew, and Dawn smiled excitedly at Neelix who was looking at them confused.

"Mr. Neelix," said Willow before she introduced everyone else in the officer. Once Neelix introduced himself, he turned back to Willow who asked if he was feeling at home on Atlantis before apologizing for not having met with him.

"Colonel Summers already explained that it's a busy time with the war against the Wraith, General," said Neelix, "and I do have to say that this is a beautiful city."

"Thank you," said Willow with a smile.

"Umm.. there is one thing that I would like to know," said Neelix, "when Colonel Summers took me to the Mess Hall to get something to eat, I was introduced to something called Mac and Cheese, and Peperoni Pizza."

"Yes," said Willow nodding her head, already aware of where this was going. She mentally notified everyone in the room as well that Neelix suspected something.

"It may just be a coincidence among humans but I served this Mac and Cheese to some humans we found in the Delta Quadrant. They were taken from Earth in the year 1937, including a group the colonists called Thirty Sevens"

"Oh?" asked Willow as Jonathan, Andrew, and Dawn, mentally cheered, "I thought humans already colonized the Milky way?"

"Voyager was supposed to be the only Federation ship in the Delta Quadrant," said Neelix, "and from what Captain Janeway has told me, there are no human colonies in the Delta Quadrant. So having encountered a human colony was a welcome surprise; I made the Thirty Sevens their food from home based on the cultural database on Voyager."

"So Mac and Cheese," said Anya while Neelix nodded his head.

"Sushi, and some other Earth delicacies," said Neelix, "and in the Mess Hall, I saw those same food… plus some alien ones… but… with all due respect, General. Are you and most of the people here on Atlantis, from Earth?"

Willow looked at Neelix with her hands in her pockets deciding whether to tell the man the truth about being from Earth. However, she also knew that would bring about a lot of questions that they weren't set to answer. And given that they were sure, based on reports from the Vantage, that Janeway and the Federation would judge them on committing various acts of genocide. But she also knew that it would something very hard to hide when Voyager arrived on Atlantis, but she was certain that a small white lie would suffice.

"We can't tell you everything," said Willow, "but no… we're not from Earth. Although we are from the Milky Way galaxy. And for right now, at least until your people get here, that's all I'm willing to say."

"Of… of course," said a wide-eyed Neelix who prepared himself for an answer, he though they were from Earth, but having humans in another galaxy from another planet in the Milky Way was still a surprise. He was then led away by Lisa and Dawn, with the alien mumbling, "oh my."

**USS Voyager, twenty four hours in hyperspace.**

Captain Janeway was in her seat with Chakotay by her side looking out the view screen at the blue and white hyperspace tunnel in front of them. With the injured crew having recovered thanks to the efforts of the Doctor and his staff, as well as Dr. Drumm and the Vantage's staff, the Doctor found some free time to stand behind the Captain with his hands on the railing, his mobile emitter attached on his left sleeve.

It was only two hours earlier that Dr. Drum and his people were transported to the Vantage, together with the disconnected matter convertor which B'Ellana still hadn't been able to scan completely. However, even with repairs to the sensor arrays and various other areas of the ship completed, Janeway knew that they would have to land the ship to carry out the repairs on the Warp drive, and to repair two warp coils in the starboard nacelle damaged in the Wraith attack. As for the hull breaches, the Wraith carriers would be pulled out on the surface, and the resulting breaches covered with the structural integrity shield before being repaired at space dock over Earth.

"Captain," said Ensign Kim after his console beeped, "the Vantage is hailing us."

"Put them through," said the Captain as she leaned back on her seat.

"Captain Janeway," said Jon, "we'll be coming out of hyperspace in ten seconds."

"Understood," said Janeway before she heard Jon counting down to the hyperspace window before looking at Paris who had just turned around again. The Captain then looked up at the view screen and watched as they exited hyperspace into real space.

"Captain," said Jon, "releasing tractor beam, see you on the surface."

"Tha.. thank you," said Janeway as the Vantage moved away to the starboard side of the ship.

"This can't be right," mumbled Kim as he looked at his console before asking Paris to confirm what he was seeing.

"Ensign? Lieutenant?" asked Janeway, "what is it?"

"We're searching for known astronomical markers, Captain," said Kim with his eyebrows furrowed, "but there's nothing that corresponds to the star charts in our database."

"Tom?" asked the Captain and frowned when the Conn officer turned and shook his head while B'Ellana was saying that she ran tests on the repaired sensor packets.

"But I'm running another diagnostic," said B'Ellana when Tuvok said that they were detecting three other ships, and then gave the Captain their coordinates. Janeway asked for them to be shown on screen, and the woman stood up upon seeing a station with various weapons ports along her hull and the Vantage beginning docking procedures.

"We're being hailed, Captain," said Kim. Janeway nodded her head before listening to Colonel Blair Collins who introduced herself as t eh commander of the Prometheus Station, and then told Janeway that she was being sent landing coordinates to the Tau'ri base. Paris looked at the coordinates and the telemetry information they were being sent from the Prometheus Station leading to the middle of the ocean in the northern hemisphere of the planet.

"Welcome to Lantea, Captain," said the Colonel as she looked at Voyager fly past them through the large bridge windows.

"Captain," said Paris as he zoomed in on their target destination after Janeway thanked the Colonel, who told the Starfleet officer that everything would be revealed to them by General Rosenberg. The view screen now showed a city of tall spires sitting in the middle of the ocean with smaller ships flying in and away from the station to one of the five continents, "I'm reading two point three million life signs, Captain."

'It's a city," said the Captain before taking a seat, and then asking Paris to take them in as the view-screen zoomed out before Tuvok had everyone in the ship get to their Blue Alert stations. Janeway had Paris follow the proper procedure for planetary entry and flowed the flight path down through the clouds. Once they had broken through Chakotay and Janeway stood up and watched the setting sun hit the spires on the city, the light creating a rainbow effect as Voyager flew towards the South Pier. The crew, at least those who were near view ports, watched as Voyager banked and flew past the city, and over four parked Daedalus class ships on the Eastern pier.

It was a little later that Voyager extended her landing struts, and then gently landed on the pier.

"Disengage engines," said the Captain as Paris pressed a few buttons, "and secure thrusters exhaust."

"Aye," said Paris before nodding at Janeway.

"We're being hailed from the city, Captain," said Kim.

Janeway nodded her head before listening to a woman's voice come though.

"This is Major General Willow Rosenberg, I am the commander of this base, and the Commander of all Tau'ri forces in this galaxy."

"General, I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I have so many questions. Where are we? Our sensors aren't able to make out any astronomical markers in this quadrant of space."

"Captain," said Willow, "permission to come aboard your ship?"

"Granted," said Janeway when there was a sudden whining sound, followed by a flash of three lights that deposited Neelix, Willow, and Cordelia on the Voyager bridge. Janeway stood up with Chakotay while Paris got up from his seat and walked around the newcomers, patting Neelix on the shoulder. The man then looked up at Paris and nodded his head, saying that they were among friends.

"Captain Janeway, I presume," said Willow taking a step forward as Janeway nodded her head. Willow looked at everyone else on the bridge, and then back to Janeway.

"General," said the Captain nodding her head.

"I'd like to introduce you to President Cordelia Chase of the Tau'ri," said Willow as Cordelia shook Janeway's hand before moving onto Chakotay and shaking his hand.

"I'd like to welcome all of you to the Pegasus galaxy," said Cordelia much to the surprise of Janeway and Chakotay who looked at Neelix nodding his head excitedly. Paris and B'Ellana said it wasn't possible while Kim was checking his readings. Tuvok however, sensed looked at Willow who was glancing at him with a smile before looking away, and it was then he realized that it was true. Before he could say anything else, Cordelia stunned the bridge by welcoming them to Atlantis.

TBC.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**USS Voyager, Atlantis Pier.**

"Excuse me?" asked an incredulous Janeway who was unable to figure out a reaction to the two bombshells that were just dropped on the crew; that they were on a Tau'ri base called Atlantis, and that they were in the Pegasus galaxy.

"Technically," said Willow winching before continuing, "you're in the Pegasus Irregular galaxy, about three million light years away from Earth. Give or take a few hundred thousand light years."

"That's not possible," mumbled Kim as he looked down at the console in front of him in disbelief as he mentally calculated the speed the Vantage was going while towing them through hyperspace. Once he made the calculations, he shook his head 'no' before looking up at Willow and Cordelia, and telling then the results of his calculation. Willow nodded her head, and said that he was correct before Neelix spoke up and told them that he had seen a three-dimensional model of the galaxy.

"I saw where we were attacked by the Kazon last year, even the location of the Caretaker's array. Captain, I saw the old Hirogen relay network, I even saw where the Wraith ship attacked us," said Neelix as the stunned Janeway looked at her ship's ambassador while Chakotay was looking on confused as he placed his hands on his hips, trying to make sense of everything that they were being told.

"Captain," said Cordelia, "this is the capital city of the Tau'ri, you and your people are more than welcome to make yourself at home while you repair your ship. And in the end, if you decide you want to go back, then we'll have a ship tow you back to the edge of the Sol system… and you'll be home."

"I'm sorry, Madam President," said Janeway as she started to pace the floor, her face still in disbelief before turning to Chakotay, and then back to Cordelia and Willow, "this is still so hard to believe."

"Mr. Neelix has told us that you're a long way from home," said Willow with Janeway looking back at her. The Captain looked at the faded red hair, and then at the blue uniform and jacket with various types of ribbons; and over the ribbons were a triangle and floating circle on a pin attached to the suit just above the left breast. Janeway then looked up at the stars on her shoulder, and then back at the green eyes looking back at her while she said that they knew what it was like to be so far away from their home world.

Janeway, still in a bit of a daze at not only finding more humans in another galaxy, but also, she was supposedly in the city of Atlantis then looked over her shoulder at Kim.

"Ensign Kim, B'ellana," said the Captain looking over her shoulders, "get to astrometrics. Transfer every bit of reserve power to finding out exactly where we are."

"Understood," said B'Ellana and Kim together before they rushed up past the Doctor and into the turbolift. The door hissed shut while Willow and Cordelia were mentally telling each other that it was so cool to see a working turbo-lift. A small smile appeared on Cordelia's face while she continued talking to Janeway after the doors closed.

"Captain," said Cordelia gently, "you're in Pegasus. You're more than welcome to confirm what we're saying with your own instruments; General Rosenberg expected as much."

"I'd have done the same thing," admitted Willow nodding her head at Janeway, "you won't be faulted for checking in with your own sensors. You're more than welcome to stay on your vessel the whole time while conducting repairs, or you could move around freely in the city. We can provide you with ships that'll drag the Wraith wreckage out of your hull too. All we ask is that if you do decide to move around, please avoid the secured sections of the city."

"There is a legend of a city called Atlantis in Earth's past," said Chakotay trying to hide his excitement at the possibility of find one of the greatest archaeological finds in human history, if it was proven to be true that is, "a city occupied by a technologically advanced society that sunk under the Atlantic Ocean thousands of years ago. This surely cannot be the same city."

Willow smiled while mentally confirming their cover story with Cordelia; the same cover story she had her Heads of Departments send to their subordinates. A temporary white lie, until they could gauge Starfleet and the Federations' reactions.

"We were originally from a planet called Avalon in the Milky Way," lied Willow, "we had our fair share of problems… war, famine, and… well, everything else in between. We had our good days, and our bad days. Things changed when an expedition discovered this city underneath one of our oceans. It was covered in a shield and… well, when the sensors detected life signs, power was transferred from the shields to life support. And when the shield couldn't hold back the water, it rose to the surface and became the capital city of the Tau'ri. That's when things changed in our society. The city joined warring factions into one people, and we started to fight war, poverty, disease. The city was a rallying point for us to grow… expand our knowledge. We built ships and started to explore the galaxy."

"Sounds similar to Earth's own history," said Chakotay while Janeway stared at Cordelia who nodded her head.

"We visited your world," said Cordelia, "or at least our ancestors did, we told people of the time period about Avalon and Atlantis."

"And the legend of Atlantis spread through… wait, but that would mean your people visited Earth in the period of time we call ancient Greece," said Chakotay.

"We're not aware of what you call that time period," lied Willow, her expression motionless, "but our ancestors did visit your planet."

"But you are human, are you not?" asked Tuvok who couldn't put his finger on it, but he was aware that there was something wrong with the story. He was certain that they were hiding something, and the logical part of his mind was telling him that since the two cultures had just met, the Tau'ri wouldn't reveal everything to complete strangers.

At least not yet.

"Yes, we are human," said Willow, "with a few genetic modifications here and there, but that's beside the point. We are human, but not from your world. We're still wondering how is it that two groups of humans in the same galaxy managed to evolve independently from one another."

"I would like to work with your medical staff and geneticists," said the Doctor as Willow turned towards him, "perhaps we could find out…"

"Mr. Neelix said you're a hologram, am I right?" asked Willow excitedly at the Doctor.

"Yes," said the Doctor proudly.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Willow, a grin on her face before looking at Janeway. The redhead was hoping to change the topic of conversation, so she told the Captain that she was an engineer by training, "do you have emitters on the bridge? I mean how is he here, and… wow… a living hologram."

"All I am is photons within a magnetic field," said the Doctor, "but thank you for the compliment."

"My people have done work on holograms before," said Willow, "but we've never had a hologram outside a room without any emitter."

"That's all thanks to my mobile emitter," said the Doctor before he saw the look, and the shake of the head, that Janeway was giving him… signalling him to not say anything else, especially about the emitter being a twenty-ninth century piece of technology.

"Ummm…. How is Seven?" asked the Doctor as he changed the topic while Janeway looked back at Willow.

"Their allies have cloned a new body for her," said Neelix, "I mean I haven't been allowed to see her since…"

"Well," said Willow scratching her head, "she's kinda not… I mean…"

"She's naked," said Cordelia, "anyway, we've already talked to Thor and Heimdall, and…"

"Thor? Heimdall?" asked Janeway before she closed her eyes, shaking her head begging them to stop before continuing, "Thor? As in the Ancient god of Thunder? He's an alien?"

"He's a nice man," said Neelix, "although I have to say that the Asgard food is pretty tasteless."

"Asgard?" asked Paris while Tuvok remained stoic; with Willow being impressed at the level of his emotional control.

"You'll all be able to meet them soon," said Willow before turning back to Janeway, "I've already checked-in on your friend, and she's doing fine. Her new body's going be ready in less than twenty-four hours. And in the meantime, you are…"

"General," said Janeway before taking in a deep breath. It was a topic that she wasn't sure how to broach, it was the elephant in the room… but it was something that she couldn't pretend not to have heard, "is it true that the Tau'ri were responsible for the Goa'uld genocide?"

Willow looked at Janeway before glancing over at Cordelia who closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Jon had already notified them, while traveling through hyperspace earlier, about what the Captain had told him about the Vulcan High Command having rumours about the Goa'uld destruction in the Milky Way galaxy. She and Cordelia had been expecting this question ever since, it was the reason for the white lies... the cover stories about who the Tau'ri really were.

"I think we have to come up with a cover story," Cordelia remembered Willow saying while she, Faith, and several others were in the briefing room hours ago, "since it's every likely, if the Federation is anything like in the shows, that they would judge us despite doing what we had to do."

Back on the bridge, Willow nodded her head at Janeway.

"Yes, we destroyed them all," admitted Willow while Chakotay looked over at Tuvok, and Janeway had her eyes wide opened at Willow. There was a part of her that was hopeful that the rumours of genocide were false, but having it confirmed shook her to her very core. As she looked at the expressionless Willow, Janeway had to wonder if the Federation should open any form of diplomatic negotiations with those who openly claim to have committed an act of genocide.

"The Goa'uld were enslaving races all over the galaxy," said Willow, "and when we gained space-flight, we fought them for the freedom of the entire galaxy. I know that many people weren't touched by the horrors of the Goa'uld and their Jaffa, their personal soldiers who they enslaved as well. We gained allies, including a race that was at war with them over ten thousand years ago… one of the oldest in three galaxies; the Asgard.

"The people helping Seven?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes," Willow nodded her head, "the Goa'uld left some worlds alone, and they enslaved other worlds. So we went on a mission to free those slaves. One of the Jaffa joined us so that he could help free his people, and eventually the Jaffa rose up as well, and we beat back the System Lords and their forces. Eventually we destroyed all of their known hideouts, space stations, and bases… including the Goa'uld symbiote home world."

"How many have your people killed?" asked Chakotay.

"Billions of symbiotes, thousands of Jaffa, and a majority of the remaining minor System Lords," said Willow coldly, "they couldn't be negotiated with, believe me… we tried. We were betrayed at every step. And they weren't the only ones we destroyed."

"We destroyed a replicator invasion of the Milky Way," said Cordelia, "we had to beat back a race of religious extremists from another galaxy, and then there's the Wraith."

"The Wraith are…."

"The Superhive ship that we destroyed in the Milky Way was the last," said Willow, "there are no more. And if you want me to apologize for destroying a race of monsters that literally would suck the life right out of you… well, that's not happening."

"I cannot believe this," said Janeway glaring at Willow, "we aided in the genocide of a race?"

"What would you tell the survivors of a culling…. Twenty men, women, and children out of a population of two thousand who watched their families either taken away or had their bodies desiccated into a dry husk," said Cordelia, "I've seen the village, I've seen children calling out for their mothers and fathers while bothers were screaming over the bodies of their sisters. The Milky Way is safe… Pegasus is safe…"

"Maybe there could have been a way to negotiate a treaty, or.." said Paris, who was in disbelief.

"A treaty would involve the Wraith keeping their end of a bargain," said Willow turning to Paris, "my people offered a truce… a ceasefire years ago. We travelled with our most powerful warships on a mission of peace, but they killed everyone through sheer numbers. We destroyed four Hiveship, and they'd return with fifty. Fourteen thousand lives were lost that day. That was the massacre that united the people in this galaxy, and we combined out forces to fight the Wraith using different tactics that they would never expect"

"Until they were all dead," said the Doctor.

"There is some logic in what the Tau'ri have done, Captain," said Tuvok as Janeway turned towards the Vulcan in surprise.

"Tuvok?"

"This is assuming that the Wraith are as great of a threat as the General seems to indicate," he continued, "from what I have heard, the Wraith are a race that feeds on human beings, which implies that they treat any living beings as if they were any other source of food. They would let the humans reproduce, and then build their populations to a certain number before feeding. In return, the humans would live in terror of when the Wraith would return."

"And with the Wraith reaching the Milky Way…." Said Chakotay.

"They had the coordinates for Earth," said Willow, "seven billion souls to feed on… can you imagine the horror if they began growing new ships and spreading like a cancer. No one would have been safe… not even the Borg."

"Once I get my crewman back, General," said Janeway, her eyes filled with anger, "I want my ship towed to the Alpha quadrant. I will not have us stay with a people who would so easily justify the genocide of an entire race; entire races of living beings. On Earth, we had a period of time… a world war where a madman justified the near genocide of a group of people just because he believed they were subhuman… he murdered millions before he died, and his reign was finished. We may not have been able to stop you… but I will not allow my people to remain here one moment longer than we have to."

The Captain then turned to Chakotay and told him to have B'Ellana and her Engineering teams begging their repairs on the Warp Core. That once they were taken to the edge of the Sol system, they were to travel at their own speed for home.

"If that's what you really want," said Cordelia nodding her head, "it's your choice."

"Ops," said Willow as she pressed her ear piece. A channel was then opened to the Prometheus Station, "beam out myself and President Chase."

Willow gave the Captain a small smile before she and Cordelia vanished in bright flashes of white light. The Captain shook her head while rubbing her forehead as she recalled what she had told a General, no less, in an uncharacteristic fit of anger at how flippant Willow and Cordelia seemed about having killed off entire races.

And that she and her crew played a part.

"Captain," said Chakotay glancing at her while she placed her hands over her mouth. She then put down her arms and took in a deep breath, before placing her hands on her hips.

"I.. I'll be in my ready room," she whispered before turning and walking away. Chakotay and Tuvok were the only ones on the bridge left looking at each other for a second before the ship's First Officer contacted B'Ellana and ordered her to begin work on the Warp Core repairs. HE then turned to the Doctor, and ordered him to contact Atlantis, and have them send coordinates to where Seven was being examined.. he wanted the Hologram to make sure that she was doing alright.

"Understood," said Chakotay before the Doctor walk out of the bride. Once he and Tuvok were alone, Chakotay nodded at the door leading to the Captain's ready room. The two of them walked to the door, and pressed the button that notified the Captain that she had company. Upon hearing the Captain say, 'come' Chakotay pressed the same button and the door slid open. The two of them walked in, the door closing behind them, to find Janeway looking out the viewports of her ready room at the spires in the distance.

"Atlantis," she whispered while Tuvok and Chakotay stood side by side. Janeway looked over her shoulder, and then sighed before turning around and taking a seat on her couch, "Tuvok, what else does the High Command say about the Tau'ri?"

"Our information is not at all extensive, Captain," said Tuvok, "I have already told you what I know; however, I believe that we have not been given all available information."

"I think they're hiding something too, Captain," said Chakotay nodding his head.

Janeway leaned forward before signing an agreement to her two officers. She told them that it was the fact that the Tau'ri admitted responsibility so nonchalantly for committing at least three acts of genocide that had gotten her riled up. Chakotay then added that it would take some time to repair the Warp Core and all of the damaged components, and that it would be best if the crew went on some shore leave.

"I'm not saying we forget what the General told us," said Chakotay, "but it would give the crew some breathing space. I'd think that most they, and us, are tired of taking in this artificial air. It would be nice to smell the ocean… and some fresh air."

"And it would give us a chance to discreetly gather information from the Tau'ri citizens on Atlantis," Tuvok said.

"If this really is Atlantis," added Janeway.

"If it is Captain," added Chakotay, "then this is the single greatest find in our history. A race of humans living in the Pegasus galaxy on a mythical city, and…"

"Hold on," said Janeway as she recalled what Willow and Cordelia had told her, "this city was found on their homeworld in the Milky Way, so how did it get here in Pegasus?"

"It's a ship," Chakotay said excitedly.

"I think I should meet with the General once again, and apologize," said Janeway before getting up to her feet, "Chakotay, inform the crew that they'll be able to spend time off the ship. But I'd like you to rotate the leave, I want security personnel and crew here to continue with repairs while the others are on leave."

"Aye, Captain," answered Chakotay nodding his head.

"Tuvok," said Janeway, "meet with the Doctor and Neelix, I'd like for you to accompany them to see Seven."

"Understood, Captain," said Tuvok.

"We'll begin shore leave in three hours, Commander," said Janeway at Chakotay, who nodded his head, "dismissed."

"And Captain," asked Chakotay, "do you still want us to leave once Seven has fully recovered."

"I haven't changed my opinion, Chakotay," answered the Captain, "I still want us to leave once she's recovered. In the meantime, find out all you can about the Tau'ri, and the city."

"Aye, Captain," nodded Chakotay before he and Tuvok left the Ready Room, and Janeway sighed before turning around to look at the spires that rose towards the sky.

**Atlantis Gateroom, a few minutes ago.**

It had been hours since Lisa received word that her ship, the Persephone, arrived into Lantea's orbit and the crew were given shore leave as a sign of thanks for a job well done. The Wraith threat was over, and the whole city felt like it was in a celebratory mood with rumours coming in from the mainland that celebrations were going to be held complete with fireworks.

While everyone was going back home to their families in Atlantis and on the mainland, Lisa was standing at the Gateroom watching the blue even horizon of an open wormhole. A wide smile soon appeared on her face as Xander, his hair already showing signs of greyness walked through the event horizon arm in arm with his wife. Buffy let go of Xander and rushed to her daughter who was giggling as she hugged her, picked her up off the ground, and spun her around while two more people walked through the event horizon. The Gate then shut down as Buffy put her daughter down, and continued to hug her tightly.

"Congratulations, Lisa," whispered Buffy, whose hair was still as bright as when she first became the Slayer on Earth hundreds of years ago, "our hero."

"There were others too, mom," said Lisa as she whispered into her ear while reaching out with her arm as a blonde-haired man, and a dark-haired woman walked towards them after passing Xander. The two of them hugged Lisa after Buffy let her go, the Slayer looking at the central stairs as Faith and Dawn rushed down.

"Buffy!" Dawn exclaimed as she hugged her sister while Faith hugged Xander, welcoming them back to Atlantis.

"Hey Xan-man," said Faith gently punching Xander's arm before going onto hug Buffy. She then turned to the young man and hugged him while Dawn hugged the girl.

"Aunt Dawn, Aunt Faith," said Brendan and Sarah, Buffy and Xander's two older children, as they pulled back before placing their arms around Lisa's shoulders.

"Where's Rose and Jay?" asked Dawn as she placed her arm around Buffy's shoulder while the group headed off down some stairs. Xander said that Jay and Rose, Joyce's two other children from her marriage to Jayden of the planet Edina, was going to be coming later on.

"They're waiting for their babysitters," said Sarah before continuing, "and where's our cousin? Where's the little cutie pie?"

"Yeah, Dawnie," asked Buffy as she nudged her sister's arm, "where is my nephew?"

"He's with Jon in the mainland," said Dawn, "he's on a play-date, he'll be in here in time for the party."

"Hey," said Xander leaning in towards Faith as they reached a transporter. The group piled in while Xander asked if it was true that Voyager was really parked on one of Atlantis' piers. Dawn nodded her head while Xander's eyes went wide open while she said that she had already met Neelix.

"I talked to Picard," grinned Lisa as Buffy chuckled while Xander snapped his head at his youngest daughter, "he has the accent and…"

"You saw the Enterprise?" asked Xander excitedly.

"Uh huh," grinned Lisa as bright light enveloped them, and then when it faded, the door opened into a hallway. The group exited into the hallway while Xander whined at not having been able to see the Enterprise while Lisa and her sibling's chuckled. Buffy shook her head while holding on tight of his hand. Eventually, the group reached a set of doors where Faith swept her hand over a panel. The doors slid open into the large quarters she shared with Willow, and the group walked in.

Tonight, Willow, Faith, Buffy, and their closest friends were going to celebrate. There was finally going to be peace in the galaxy; and now resources could be shifted to exploring Pegasus, completion of the new ship that would meet with the Destiny, and expanding their current colonies in the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies.

**TBC.**

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Voyager, Janeway's Ready Room, 1930 hours.**

Neelix stood on the bridge waiting with Paris, who was looking out the view screen at the various towers that made up one section Atlantis. He was fiddling with his hands as he tried to remember if there was anything he may have forgotten to mention. His eyes widened when he had a recollection of the most important detail in regards to his trip to Atlantis; it was something he told himself he wouldn't mention in front of Willow and Cordelia – not that they did not ask him not to discuss it with the Captain.

Neelix simply believed it should be something done in private with his Captain and .

Taking a deep breath, Neelix walked towards the door leading to the Captain's ready room while telling Paris that he'd be right back, that he had something important to tell Captain Janeway. Paris knew that he had to remain at the bridge, and nodded his head as Neelix rushed down to the Ready Room door, and pressed on the keypad that beeped the Captain who had just finished talking to Chakotay and Tuvok.

"Come," the Captain said as the doors slid open, and Neelix walked in. The door closed behind the alien as Janeway told Neelix that she had just finished talking to Tuvok and Chakotay. She continued explaining that she wanted him to accompany the Doctor and Tuvok to look in on Seven and ask questions discreetly.

"Of course, Captain," said Neelix as he stepped forward while clasping his hands together, "but there is something else I've neglected to mention. Well, not neglected to mention, but…."

"Neelix?" asked the Captain.

"After the Persephone left with me and Seven," he said, "we weren't here in twelve hours."

"What are you talking about?" asked Janeway.

"Do you remember the Sikarians we encountered few years ago?" asked Neelix as Janeway's eyes lit up. She, Chakotay and Tuvok, couldn't forget the race of aliens who possessed technology that could have utilized space-folding to get Voyager half of the way home. However, she was refused access to the technology thanks to the Sikarian version of a Prime Directive. As she looked at Neelix, her heart beat faster as she wondered if the Tau'ri possessed similar technology. However, she didn't want to hold out too much hope in case she was mistaken, so Janeway asked Neelix to continue.

"The Persephone entered orbit on another world," Neelix said excitedly, "and from there we used a device to transport Colonel Summers, Seven, and myself to Atlantis. Captain, it happened instantaneously."

"Wait," asked Janeway as she put her hands up while Tuvok and Chakotay looked at each other with the Vulcan arching an eyebrow upwards. Janeway then asked Neelix to clarify what he just told. Neelix then explained what happened in the ship; about how a power source was placed on a large ring shaped object, which then created an artificial wormhole to Atlantis.

"An artificial wormhole?" asked Chakotay while Janeway looked back out at Atlantis, and then at Neelix again, "Starfleet has been trying to create stable wormholes for years. Are you sure these people used a similar technology?"

"We talked about how we arrived on Atlantis while waiting for Voyager and having some Coffee in the Mess Hall," said Neelix nodding his head, "I was amazed at how easy it was to travel all that way. But Colonel Summers did say that travelling from one galaxy to another used a lot of power."

"Gathorel, told me that Kim and his friend was sent to a planet forty thousand light years away," said Janeway, "and that was the technology's limit. Are you saying that the Tau'ri used a device to create a stable artificial wormhole that travelled millions of light years in a few seconds?"

"Yes, Captain," nodded Neelix, "it was like walking from one room into another. And the Persephone took twelve hours to enter orbit over this world."

"Does the one in Atlantis only end up on that planet?" asked Chakotay.

"I was told that there are thousands upon thousands of worlds that use the ring device in Pegasus," said Neelix at Chakotay before turning to Janeway, "Captain, they can travel from one planet to another without the use of any ships. It's a game-changer if this technology existed in our own galaxy."

Janeway was trying to wrap her mind around this new information when she noticed the look on Tuvok's face. While the Vulcan didn't show any emotion, she knew the man long enough to know that he was in deep thought about something. And she could bet it was the exact same thing that she and Chakotay were thinking; if the ring existed on that one planet in the Milky Way, then there had to be more of these rings spread on thousands of other worlds.

The problem was that no one seemed to have heard about it. So she turned to Tuvok who she hoped would have some knowledge from the Vulcan High Command on any news about a mysterious ring.

"Tuvok?" asked Janeway, "have you heard anything like this…ummm…. Neelix, what do the Tau'ri call this technology?"

"Stargate," Neelix interrupted, "they called it a Stargate."

"Tuvok?" asked Janeway as Chakotay sat on the couch in surprise while imagining travelling from one planet to another, much less to another galaxy, through an artificial wormhole. In the meantime, Tuvok was saying that he had never heard of a Stargate but the description of the grey coloured ring, with glyphs on an inner track as described by Neelix sounded much like an artefact that was found buried near the Forge. Chakotay looked up at the Vulcan male and asked if they had conducted any quantum dating, or any other experiments, on the device.

"The Vulcan Science Academy did not have a chance to conduct any experiments," said Tuvok as he arched an eyebrow at Chakotay, who looked back at him in surprise, "the object was gone mere seconds after it was discovered."

"When was this?" asked Janeway.

"More than three-hundred-forty years ago," Tuvok said while he calculated the exact Terran date in his mind, "the exact Terran year would be 2029."

"That's the period when Earth was gripped in the Third World War," said Chakotay.

"Indeed," added the Vulcan nodding his head.

"Third world war?" asked Neelix. Janeway looked at the alien, and sighed before she sat down next to Chakotay and told Neelix about the last major conflict on Earth which began with nuclear strikes on various Earth cities. The description of the carnage made Neelix cringe. He had seen the horrors of war himself, especially after his own people were massacred through the use of the Metreon Cascade; but to hear about such destruction still made him shiver. He had similar feelings about the Tau'ri when Lisa told him what they had to do to defeat the Goa'uld in the Milky Way. While he didn't agree with what they had done, he understood why they had done it… why they had to destroy the Goa'uld.

He shook his head, and continued to listen while Chakotay asked why anyone would beam out the artefact found on Vulcan.

"There's something very wrong here, why was the Stargate from Vulcan taken away? and why doesn't anyone in the Federation have any records on this Stargate?" said Janeway as she walked over to her chair and sat down. She looked at the computer in front of her, and then back up at Tuvok. She asked him to go on as they had planned; check-in on Seven, and then question some of the Tau'ri discreetly. She also asked Tuvok to take a medical tricorder from the Doctor and scan as many Tau'ri as possible discreetly. And then once they had enough information, there was to be a briefing on Voyager at eleven-hundred hours.

The group, minus the Captain, then walked out of the ready-room, with Chakotay telling Paris to run continuous scans on the city. He wanted to be kept informed on any massive energy discharges, something which Tuvok postulated would be required to open an artificial wormhole, anywhere in the city.

"Wormhole?" asked Paris with his eyes narrowed.

Before Paris could ask what was going on, Chakotay told him that he and the others would be able to know more once they checked in on Seven and gathered some intelligence. And that he would be briefed along with the other senior officers in a few hours. Nodding his head, Paris turned and began running a scan of the entire city. While Chakotay sat on his chair to schedule shore leave for the crew, Tuvok and Neelix headed towards the Turbo-lift. They were going to meet the Doctor, and then head to the city.

**Science Lab One, Atlantis.**

While Chakotay was making out the schedules for shore leave, Stargate Operations sent Voyager a map of the city, including locations of the secure areas of the city so that the crew didn't happened to wander there accidently. Janeway had the crew load the map onto their PADDs before they were to head out. IN the meantime, Tuvok, Neelix, and the Doctor beamed down to the pier two meters away from Voyager. Tuvok looked at the map on the PADD for directions to the Science Lab, and once he had a clear line, the three of them started their walk to the closest tower where they would take a personal transporter to the Central Tower. Neelix entered the closet-like recess followed by Tuvok and the Doctor. The doors then closed behind them, while a panel on the wall in front of them slid up to reveal a map of Atlantis.

"I thought all of this technology was voice activated," chuckled Neelix as he pressed the Central Tower, which then zoomed in before he pressed a particular floor. All the while he was telling Tuvok and the Doctor that he was surprised when nothing happened. He chuckled saying that Lisa was trying to hold in her laughter before she showed him how to get from one point to another. The Doctor and Tuvok looked at each other wordlessly just before a flash of white light engulfed them, and then the doors reopened. Tuvok and the Doctor walked out of the transporter into a hallway were there were only a few people milling around, while others were walking to and fro heading to their own destinations.

"That was fast," said the Doctor as Neelix followed them out into the hallway, and the doors closed behind them once again. Neelix then asked them to follow him through the hallway while passing by several people, both human and alien, until they reached Science Lab One. Neelix waved his hand over a panel which beeped, before it slid open. The Doctor was the first to walk into the large pale orange coloured room where there were two glass covered tubes in the walls; both containing a body of Seven. Tuvok and the others saw that one of the bodies still had the borg implant over her left eye, while the other body contained no visible implants on the surface of her skin. In fact, the one without implants looked as if she was in her early twenties. The Doctor then looked at a three-dimensional hologram of Seven's body over a pedestal while three consoles surrounded the pedestals. On two of those pedestals were grey skinned aliens with their backs to the visitors while three humans were working at another console at one end of the room while looking at a green tinged screen with had alien script flowing from one side to another.

"Ummm… hello," said Neelix as a redhaired woman in a white lab pressing buttons on a screen in the middle of the two glass tubes turned around, as did the aliens, and looked at the visitors.

"Mr. Neelix," said one of the aliens.

"Mr. Thor," said Neelix as the alien and his partner walked up to them, with the redhaired woman coming around the pedestal, "I'd like for you to meet Voyager's chief of Security, Mr. Tuvok, and the Chief Medical Officer, the Doctor."

"I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet, and this is Heimdall, Chair of the Asgard Science Council."

"General Rosenberg has made mention of your race, Supreme Commander Thor. Is it true you have been on Earth?" asked Tuvok while the Doctor glanced at the two Seven's past Thor's shoulder before laying eyes on the smiling woman who was now standing next to Heimdall.

"And this is Atlantis' Chief Medical Officer," said Heimdall as he motioned towards the woman who was holding a small tablet in her hand, "Dr. Cassandra Howe-Fraiser."

'"Or Cassie for short. Mr. Neelix, sorry I wasn't able to meet with you earlier."

"I was told you were off-world," Neelix said before shaking her hand. He then stood back while she shook Tuvok's hand, welcoming him to the city. All the while, despite her clam and professional exterior, Cassie was mentally jumping up and down while thinking to herself, 'Oh Jack and Sam are going to be soooooo jealous!'

"Yes," she replied calmly before moving onto the Doctor.

"I heard a rumour that you're a great doctor," said Cassie shaking his hand, "you've done amazing things with limited resources. Great job."

"I try my best," said the Doctor nodding his head proudly while Cassie smiled. She then turned to Tuvok and Neelix before saying that she wanted her patient to have some privacy.

"The Doctor can stay since he's Seven's physician, but I have to ask Mr Neelix and Mr. Tuvok to leave," said Cassie.

"Captain Janeway would like for us to understand the status of our crewmate, and then we will be exploring the city," said Tuvok.

"She's going to be fine," said Cassie motioning towards the two pods while a thick mist covered the bodies of the two Seven's, "we're nearly finished with her new body, and then we're going to download her copied memories into her enhanced brain."

"Enhanced?" asked the Doctor in concern.

"Do not be concerned," said Heimdall at the Doctor, "according to Mr. Neelix, her mind contains the memories and knowledge of every individual that an hostile alien race assimilated into their collective. In order to keep those memories and knowledge from killing her, we had to genetically engineer her mind to contain all of that information."

"With all due respect," said the Doctor as he looked at Thor, Heimdall, and then at Cassie, "could I have a look at what exactly you've done? Genetically engineering a mind could have severe repercussions. I just want to make sure that Seven's not in any pain, and that her neural pathways are stable."

"Of course," said Thor as the Doctor took out his medical tricorder and asked if he could use his own instruments.

"Neat," said Cassie as she looked at the device which the Doctor opened. She reached out with one hand and asked if she could examine the device, which the Doctor described as a medical tricorder; she wanted to see if it was anything like on the shows. The Doctor handed the activated tricorder to Cassie under the watchful eyes of Tuvok, while Cassie handed her tablet over to the Doctor who gave a small smile as he looked at the thin seven-inch device which had a probe attached to the top. Cassie told him that the probe was able to detect everything medical related in regards to a life-form from the blood pressure, to whether a body contained synthetic proteins and nanites. The Doctor nodded his head while explaining the uses of the tricorder his face hiding the surprise at the information he gleaned when the device accidentally scanned Cassie. While telling himself to run a diagnostic on the tricorder when they returned to Voyager, he was telling the young woman that it detected virtually any medical problem as well. Impressed Cassie returned the tricorder, closing the bottom section and thus deactivating it, to the Doctor who returned the tablet to Cassie. Cassie then told the Doctor, Tuvok, and Neelix that the Asgard were experts in genetic engineering and cloning' that Seven was in good hands.

While the Doctor began his examination of Seven, he wondered about the data he caught a glimpse of and glanced over at Cassie , and the at Seven while having a lively discussion with the Atlantis CMO and the grey aliens. While the doctor and the other medical personnel and Asgard were talking, Tuvok and Neelix headed back out into the hallway. They then made their way to several areas on their map, and talked to as many people as they could. Eventually, members of the Voyager crew entered the city in awe of the surroundings; some went exploring in groups as celebrations around the city started to heat up, while others went to the Mess Hall.

All of them had mixed reactions to the festival atmosphere around them as they listened to talk of the Pegasus galaxy being finally rid of the Wraith. That kind of talk made some of the crew uncomfortable, while others… especially those who had encountered the viciousness of the Wraith on Voyager had to admit reluctantly that the Tau'ri had the right to defend themselves.

**Conference Room, Atlantis, at that same time.**

While Janeway was adding to her log before heading to engineering to brief B'Ellana and Kim, Willow and Cordelia were in the briefing room on Atlantis after beaming back into the formers office. The both of them then left the office, and walked past Stargate Operations, the redhead ordering one of the technicians to contact a certain group of people on Lumeria. Once the young man nodded his head and made the subspace calls, Willow and Cordelia headed into the conference room as the doors closed behind them. The overhead and wall lights then dimmed while various screens on the walls activated; all with faces of the Tau'ri governmental representatives and a representative of the Pegasus Alliance.

It had been nearly forty years since the time dilation field was deactivated. With a newly built fleet of advanced Tau'ri-Ancient hybrid ships, Willow was placed in temporary charge of the entire Tau'ri fleet, the BPRI, Homeworld Command, and Stargate Command given the grave danger presented by the Wraith. Essentially all assets that could be useful in fighting back against the Wraith were placed under her control, and that included Atlantis and all those who lived and worked there. While a United Lantean Civil Defence Force protected the air, land, and oceans of Lantea from domestic threats, the Tau'ri Fleet was responsible for protecting the planet and her colonies from Wraith attack.

So, when it was time to come out of time-dilation, the emergency powers were activated over the dissent of a minority in the Tau'ri congress. They were afraid that their freedoms would be taken away and martial law declared for the entire duration on Lantea their colony worlds. Those who objected were afraid that Willow and her allies would take over the civilian Civil Defence forces and place everyone under military control. However, that did not come to pass when Willow was selected to be the Supreme Commander of the Tau'ri military.

A few things did changes, however. Once of the changes over the years before the Time Dilation was deactivated included a magical supplement to the Atlantis shield on Lantea. The powerful shield was capable of protecting the entire planet, but there was a need for more power from the ZPM's to be channelled to weapons so that they could counter any Wraith attack on the entirety of Lantea; all six billion people needed to be protected. It would be four hundred years after activation of the Time Dilation field that Lantea and all one hundred and forty of her colonies were protected thanks to witches led by Tara discovering the planets' laylines; areas where magic flowed through and around the planets.

There were always witches placed in strategic places around those worlds in newly formed covens who would, when the time came, utilize the immense magic from the lay lines to create a shield that would prevent the inevitable barrage of plasma bolts from the hiveships that would attack the new Tau'ri homeworld, Lantea, and her Colony worlds. Even the other worlds that comprised the Pegasus Alliance were protected with their own covens thanks to those people who had affinity for magic being trained in its proper use. It would be this magical shield system that would prevent needless civilian casualties during the Alliance-Wraith war led by the Tau'ri.

But now that the war was over, Willow and Cordelia informed the Speaker of the Tau'ri Congress, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Chairperson of the Defence Committee, and the representative of the Pegasus Alliance that with the end of the war… the Emergency Powers Act had to be revoked.

The Alliance had won a hard-fought victory.

Willow assured them, as according to the Constitution, this would set a chain of events that would eventually lead to civilian control of Atlantis herself, and the BPRI. In the meantime, the military would retain control of Stargate Command which was to double as the Lantean version of Earth's former Homeworld Command. Any major decisions were to be made with the soon to be reformed Atlantis Council, a combined civilian and military body that would be advising the Atlantis administrator.

It would be twenty minutes later that Willow and Cordelia left the conference room and walked out to Stargate Operations. They then headed down the central stairs, and on to the redhead's apartment. Another twenty minutes later, Willow and Cordelia walked into the large living room in Willow' apartment where soft music was playing while Faith and Xander were in the large balcony facing the ocean. Faith was getting the barbeque ready, while Xander was marinating various types of meat,, sausages, and corn.

"Hey!" yelled Willow excitedly as the doors closed behind her and Dawn rushed to hug the redhead. Willow kissed the side of her head as Buffy put down a drink and headed over. Buffy hugged the redhead tightly while Lisa walked out of the kitchen carrying a dish piled high with potatoes to the balcony and handed it to her father.

"Hey!" yelled Xander and Faith as they peeked into the apartment, the both of them raising their bottles of beer in the air at Willow while Cordelia took off her suit and hung it on a wall rack. She then rubbed her hands and rushed over to the fridge and grabbed two beers for herself and Willow who was being hugged by Buffy's two older children, and then Lisa. It would be another thirty minutes later that the group was joined by Teal'c, Daniel and Anya, soon followed by Giles and Anna, and then Thor who told Willow that the Doctor was still examining Seven's cloned body with Heimdall, and that he was there representing the Asgard High Council in congratulating one of their great allies.. With Generals Jack and Samantha O'Neill coming later on, the only people missing from SG-1 were General Cameron Mitchell and Vala who were leading the Triangulum expedition in a military and civilian capacity respectively. The both of them were told about the victory over the Wraith, but would only be able to make it to Atlantis in a few days since they wanted to secure a treaty with an alien race in a planet classified as T8Y-783.

Soon, the O'Neill's arrived at Willow and Faith's door, together with Teal'c, Bra'tac, and Ishta. It would be an hour later that the core members of the Scoobies and the SGC arrived at Willow's room including Angel, Spike and Kathy. The redhead, and the dark-haired Slayer welcomed the three of them, before welcoming Dr. Weir, Teyla, General Sheppard, Dr. McKay and his wife… the former Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jennifer Keller. The rest of the original Atlantis Expedition including Ronan and his wife, and Dr. Zelenka arrived to a full-blown party hours later just as fireworks loudly burst in the skies over the mainland and Atlantis. Finally, the last to arrive was Cassie with her husband, Dominic, soon followed by Jon and his son.

Once the fireworks began, Willow and Buffy were the first ones to the large balcony facing the ocean as they watched the fireworks while the smell of grilled meat filled the air. Willow put an arm around Buffy's shoulder and smiled while Faith held onto Willow's hand. Dawn walked up to Buffy's side with a drink in her hand and took in a deep breathe before turning to the blonde Slayer and smiled.

There was an air of celebration in the mainland where, just as in Atlantis, there were parties happening all everywhere celebrating the downfall of the Wraith.

**Voyager, Briefing Room, 2300 hours.**

Janeway was looking at the fireworks as they burst in the distance. She was aware that the people in Atlantis were celebrating the downfall of the Wraith; it was something that she referred to in her log as the genocide of another sentient race by a people who had deluded themselves into thinking they were doing a favour to the galaxy. She was going to make the call to Willow the next day with an apology, but a first hand experience of the celebrations was weighing down on that decision. Half the crew was already out in the city on shore leave, and she wondered what they thought about the celebrations that were happening.

She had a view of the adjacent pier where, under the bright yellow lights that dotted the edge of the piers, people were dancing and cooking meat in open fires. To the Captain, it seemed to be more of a festival mood… something she couldn't bring herself to partake it.

To her, it just felt wrong.

'But then again,' she thought to herself as she turned around once the doors hissed open and her senior staff streamed in, 'we haven't really lived in this galaxy. Would we would have done the same thing if there wasn't a Federation? A Starfleet? Maybe we could have negotiated a truce with the Wraith instead of wiping them out. But now that it's over, would the Federation accept the Tau'ri? Should we?'

"Captain," said Chakotay. Janeway nodded at her First Officer before taking a seat. Once everyone had sat down, Janeway noticed the expression on the Doctor's face which concerned her. Her first thought was that the Doctor could have found something new after having taken detailed scans of Seven's new body; a body that he confirmed was fully human with all the associated traits in terms of her genes, proteins, and neural pathways; among others. Another part of her mind countered by thinking if the had found something new about Seven that he didn't learn while in the Science Lab, the man would have informed her immediately.

'Which means that he must have found something about the Tau'ri,' thought Janeway to herself.

"Doctor? Is there something you'd like to say?" the Captain asked.

"Before I took readings of Seven's new human body," said the Doctor as he turned towards the Captain, "I set the medical tricorder to it's maximum setting to take in as much details as possible."

"Understood," said Janeway nodding her head.

"Given that our level of technology are on similar levels, I allowed Dr. Fraiser, the Chief Medical Officer, to examine the medical tricorder while I had a look at their medical scanner," said the Doctor while the Captain nodded her head asking the Doctor to continues. He then looked at the others, and then back at Janeway before saying that the tricorder, while handing it off to Cassie, had scanned the young woman.

"I didn't show my reaction to the scan after she returned the Tricorder," said the Doctor calmly, "I simply began scanning Seven's new body while asking as many questions as I could about the process they performed. When Mr. Tuvok, Neelix and I returned to Voyager, I couldn't tell anyone my findings until I performed a diagnostic on the Tricorder itself. Once it was clear, I had to go through the data multiple times until… well, now."

"What have you found that is so perplexing, Doctor?" asked Tuvok.

"My scans show Borg nanoprobes in the good doctor's blood stream," said the Doctor while Janeway and the others looked on in concern. However, the Doctor did add that the Tau'ri were not actual Borg since there were no Borg nodes or arrays anywhere in their body.

"So how did the nanoprobes get in there?" asked B'Ellana, "and if this Dr. Fraiser is Borg, then what are…"

"But she's human," corrected the Doctor, "she simply has the nanoprobes swimming in her blood."

"We've run a life sign scan," said Paris, "we have humans and aliens in the city. We haven't detected any Borg."

"I'll have the frequency sent to you, Mr. Paris," the Doctor said.

"Tom," said the Captain, "I want you to scan the city searching using that particular frequency. I want to know how many people here have the Borg nanoprobes in their bodies."

"As for how Dr. Fraiser has these nanoprobes," added the Doctor, "it's something we'd have to bring up with the Tau'ri. And that's just the beginning."

"What else is there, Doctor?" asked Chakotay while Janeway frowned and looked on.

"Dr. Howe-Fraiser looks as if she is a healthy woman in her mid-forty's," said the doctor, "but there is a protein in the human body that builds up as you age. And the accumulation of the protein in her body tells me that she's more than two hundred and thirty eight years old."

"Doc," said Paris while Janeway and Chakotay were looking at each other with eyes wide open, "did you just say that she is more than…?"

"Yes," the Doctor said interrupting Paris while nodding his head, "as for how? I would surmise that one of the jobs that the Borg nanoprobes perform is in relation to tissue regeneration in her body. And that's only a wild guess until I can get a blood sample and a few of the nanoprobes."

"What if everyone is like this?" said B'Ellana in disbelief.

"Humans with Borg nanoprobes could pose a security risk to the ship, Captain," said Tuvok.

Janeway didn't know what to think as she rubbed her chin while looking at her officers, and then at the Doctor who looked as if he had more to say. The Captain asked the Doctor to continue with his report. The hologram then stood up and walked over to a screen on the port side of the room. He pressed a screen and an LACARS menu popped up.. After pressing a few more on-screen buttons, the Doctor brought up a line of DNA sequences with various parts being highlighted. Janeway saw him frown, and then turn back to the others with his arms hanging by his sides. He told them that the DNA sequences were captured as a result of the Medical Tricorder having accidentally scanned Cassie while pointing to the highlighted area.

"The scan indicates that Dr. Fraiser-Howe has had several genetic enhancements," said the Doctor as Janeway leaned forward concerned, "those enhancements are similar to what we have on record for the Augments."

"This keeps getting better and better," said Kim as he shook his head.

"I thought all the Augment embryos were destroyed by Starfleet." asked Paris.

"Are you sure, Doctor?" asked Janeway.

"Yes," said the doctor, "I've compared the scans to medical records of the mid-Twenty First century in the Starfleet medical database. What I've found is that Dr. Fraiser's genetic code has been enhanced to provide her with more durability, far more efficient neural pathways, and faster recovery times. However, I haven't seen anything that indicates she has increased aggressiveness, or any of the negative traits that are normally associated with the Augments."

"Maybe their world had a similar path in genetic engineering?" asked Neelix, "but they focused more on selective enhancements? From what I read after hearing about Earth's World War Three, the Augments were designed for war. The genetic engineering on your world became militarized to fight wars between nations on Earth."

"It's possible," said Chakotay before turning to the Captain, "we would have to bring this up with the Tau'ri, Captain."

"If they are Augments," said the Captain, "we can't take the risk of these people finding out that we knew what they are. The Augments on Earth were capable of horrifying acts and I won't risk this crew in a direct confrontation with them. Doctor, is there anything else?"

"That's all I've got to say, captain," said the Doctor as the stunned Janeway nodded her head. She wanted to hear reports from her senior staff on the status of the ship and crew, but all of that took a back seat thanks to what she learned just now.

"We have fifty-three members of the crew, including Naomi Wildman and Ensign Wildman, out in the city," said Tuvok, "given this new information of possible Augments in the population, I would like to recall all Voyager crewmembers back to the ship."

"I disagree," said Chakotay as Janeway looked at him, as did Tuvok, "I understand Tuvok's concerns about the safety of the crew, and…"

"With all due respect, Commander," interfered an animated Paris who had slightly raised his voice, "the Augments went out of control and devastated Earth. Over six hundred million died in the war they caused. I have to agree with Tuvok, we need to recall the crew."

Once Paris stopped talking, he realized what he had done and immediately apologized for interfering.

"We all learned at an early age about the Augments," said Chakotay after telling Paris he understood his anger, "and we know that's why the United Earth government destroyed the embryos, and then the Federation banned genetic engineering. But these people haven't caused us harm. In fact, they welcomed us… they're helping Seven with her new body, and they saved our lives from the Wraith. I think we give them the benefit of the doubt. If these people wanted to kill us, then they would have.. and then take our technology."

"Doctor," said the Captain softly, "has Seven's body been genetically engineered?"

"Just her mind," said the Doctor, "it was all done so that her memories and knowledge would remain intact. I've already examined her neural pathways, and they're taking the load of all that information in her brain without any adverse effects. There are no Borg nanoprobes, or any other genetic enhancements to her body."

"I have to think what's best for this crew," said Janeway as she leaned forward with her arms on the table, "I agree, they have helped Seven and they have helped us. But Mr. Kim has already confirmed we're in the Pegasus galaxy… we're even more alone than ever before. I don't want to risk being attacked by Augments should they find out we know what they are. I am ordering a phased recall of all crew back to Voyager. Once Seven's been cleared to leave… I'll ask the Tau'ri to send us to the edge of the Sol system."

"The way they're celebrating the extinction of a race?" asked Paris as he nodded at the fireworks, "you'd think they're just like the Augments of Earth."

Chakotay could see the fear on the faces of the crew; all of them except for Tuvok, who wouldn't show any emotion, Neelix, and the Doctor. He understood the fear that they were experiencing; but there was a part of him that felt the fear was unfounded. However, he felt it was inappropriate to publicly ask the Captain to change her mind in regards to leaving immediately. He felt that this was a new culture that needed to be explored and studied. He felt that the Federation and the Tau'ri could be allies; even help the Federation colonise some worlds in the Pegasus galaxy so that they could have a presence. As he glanced out at the fireworks while the Captain was giving out orders, Chakotay wondered if the fear he was getting from Janeway, Kim, B'Ellana, and Paris would win out in the end.

He certainly hoped not. The group then went to discussing repairs to the ship's warp drive and the structural integrity fields since the Wraith Personnel carriers were extracted from Voyager. The conversation soon went to the Stargate as everyone listened to what Neelix had to say about his experiences before the group was dismissed.

Now they had to wait another day before Janeway insisted they left the planet. She needed to keep her crew safe as much as possible without arousing any suspicions that the crew knew their hosts were possible Augments. Even though Janeway knew she was making a judgement call on the accidental scan of one single being, she could take the risk. To her, the others could very well be Augments… and thus, they were a danger to her crew.

'Once we get Seven back, we head for home,' thought Janeway to herself.

**Atlantis Infirmary Suites, Central Tower, Room One, 0700 hours.**

Seven felt a chill running up and down her body despite lying down on a warm, soft, mattress. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself seeing soft white light on the ceiling. She slowly closed her eyes back again and moved her head to the left on her soft pillow. She kept on seeing white spots though her eyes lids which she slowly opened once again. Narrowing her eyes, Seven was confused not at the white clouds and blue sky outside a large window, but at the fact that she was able to discern the colours of the sky and clouds.

Whereas on Voyager she was able to view her surroundings with a touch of a greenish tint, Seven was able to see clearly now without any tinting in her field of view. Seven groaned as she slowly sat up while looking down at the green medical gown she was wearing, and then looked up at a door sliding open before a tall, grey alien with black eyes and a red haired woman in a white lab coat walked in.

"Knew you'd be awake," said Cassie as she approached Seven who sat up while confusingly looking at her. Cassie introduced herself and Thor before asking her if she was feeling alright.

"Where am I?" asked Seven as she looked around with her eyebrows knitted in confusion. She then looked at Cassie while she sensed something else was wrong. She brought her left hand to her eyebrow and gasped when she couldn't feel the Borg implant. Her mouth hanging open, she tried to search for the implant on her right cheek… but found it was gone. It was then that Seven noticed the Borg implants on her left hand were gone as well before she looked up at Cassie and Thor demanding to know what happened to her.

"IN answer to where you are? Welcome to the Pegasus galaxy. You are in the city known as Atlantis," said Thor as Seven looked at him with eyebrows knitted together.

"Do you know your name?" asked Cassie gently.

"I… Pegasus? I am in Pegasus?" asked Seven who was trying to keep hidden her confusion and shock in hearing that particular piece of information. However, she found that it was harder than she thought while shaking her head in disbelief, "why am I unable to control my emotions? I… what have you done to me?"

"Take it easy," said Cassie as she placed her hand gently on Seven's shoulder, "take a deep breathe. It's going to take some getting used to, but you're going to be fine. Just take a breath."

Shaking her head while keeping her eyes closed as she tried to keep down the slowly developing fear of what was happening to her, Seven then took in a deep breath. It was the fact that she was feeling fear, openly feeling fear, that made her even more fearful of what was done to her.

"Breathe," said Cassie gently while Thor looked at the monitor that was located a few inches behind Seven's bed, connected wirelessly to the bed itself, as Seven's heart was racing. All the while Cassie was trying to calm her down by asking her to breathe. It would be two minutes later that Seven opened her eyes, her forehead producing some beads of sweat, and stared at the Chief Medical Officer as her heartbeat slowly steadied itself, "there we go. Easy breaths, easy."

Gently, Cassie then asked the long haired blonde woman for her name.

"Seven… Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unamatrix Zero One. You may call me Seven. Now, I demand to know what you have done. Where are my Borg implants?"

"According to the report filed by Colonel Summers," said Cassie as she put her hands in her pocket, "the Persephone fired an Anti-Replicator energy wave at the Superhive. It went through your ship as well and destroyed the human-form Asuran replicators that board your ship."

"That.. that man, Oberoth, he mentioned something about my body containing Replicator nanites," said Seven, "but.. but I was Borg. I was freed from the Collective, and… what are Replicator? Why did i have that... strange vision, and... and what have you done to me?"

"We have examined your nodes following our scans of your body," said Thor while Cassie whispered, 'vision?' But the both of them decided to ask what Seven meant later, their first duty was to make sure that the former Borg drone was feeling alright. And so, they continued to talk, "they contained a Replicator signature. We're not aware how the Replicators have survived in the Milky Way, but you and the Borg are proof that Replicators still exist in some form or another. However, we are unable to ascertain why they have not gone after the technologically advanced races as yet. As for what they are, I believe that General Willow will speak to you and your crew at a later time."

"Seven," said Cassie, "I know this is confusing, but the energy wave only works on replicator nanites and nano-cells. When the wave passed through you, it disabled all the nano-cells in your bloodstream that regulated the implants. You were dying. By the time, we got you to Atlantis and backed-up your memories, your body was already dead."

"Dead?" asked Seven.

"I'm afraid so," said Cassie as Seven looked at her stunned, "once we backed-up all your memories and knowledge, including those of the collective knowledge, experience, and memories of the people the Borg assimilated and…"

"How do you know so much about the borg?"

"Mr. Neelix accompanied you to Atlantis, he's the one who explained everything about the Borg" lied Cassie as Seven breathed a sigh of relief. There was another sigh of relief when Cassie told her that Voyager was brought to Atlantis as well, "we've already notified your friends about your recovery. They'll be here soon."

"Indeed," said Thor, "if we could continue. Your mind has been genetically enhanced to hold all of your experiences and knowledge, including of those you have assimilated. You may have headaches, but those are normal since your mind is working to store those assimilated memories into your unconsciousness."

"I'm really human?" whispered Seven.

"Other than a mental enhancement," said Cassie, "you're fully human."

"As for your original body," said Thor, "given the dangers associated with Replicators, your body has been destroyed. No-one would be able to experiment on the nodes and array in your original body."

"I…" said a stunned Seven.

"If you're concerned about the cloned body," said Thor, "I can tell you we have performed a similar procedure many years ago on an ally. Her body was cloned, but to a much higher degree than a normal human. And she is still alive."

Cassie knew that Thor was talking about Willow's current cloned body. Centuries ago, the redhead was possessed by Anubis who used her to nearly escape the SGC. She had badly beaten the former SGC Chief Medical Officer until she was in a coma, nearly killed Siler and Walter, and smashed the then Colonel Carter through the control room window and into the Gateroom. It was Anubis' possession which activated all of Willow's latent Ancient abilities at once, and it was killing her. It would be after the possession and her return to the SGC after depositing Anubis on an ice-planet, that Willow used her newly activated healing abilities to restore the injured. But the act supercharged the breakdown of her body. It would be Thor and Heimdall who discovered the protein marker, a result of the reaction between her Furling and recently activated Ancient genes, in her body that was essential to developing the cure that would eventually save their race. The Asgard cloned a body at a level of near ascension for the redhead since it was the only way to hold her burgeoning abilities without killing her. However, there was one major weakness.

"You cannot drink any alcohol," said Cassie as Seven looked at her, "the person Thor's talking about? Well, she had a mental breakdown after the alcohol interfered with some proteins in the cloned body. She recovered after several weeks of mental training with another ally, but she couldn't drink anymore alcoholic beverages. You're only the second cloned human, so… yeah. No drinks, ok?"

"I understand," said Seven.

"Your people will be here soon," said Thor, "in the meantime, we would like to begin tests to guage your body's wellbeing before you are released. If you would like, you could have your ship's Doctor observe."

"Yes, I want the Doctor here," Seven answered.

"They'll be here in a few minutes," said Cassie, "in the meantime, I guess I'll get you some clothes."

"Thank you," said Seven before Cassie and Thor left. She was left alone in the room with one thought going through her head for right now.

'I am human.'

TBC.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Voyager, 0650 hours.**

It was only ten minutes earlier that Voyager, specifically the Doctor, was contacted by Cassie in regards to Seven having regained consciousness. Before leaving the previous day after having examined Seven, the Doctor gave Cassie the frequency for the Medical Hologram channel on Voyager so that he could be kept apprised of the situation with Seven. After Cassie notified him that Seven was waking up, and that she was on the way to see her, the Doctor pressed his comm-badge and asked Captain Janeway to meet him in Sickbay. It would be twenty minutes after talking with Janeway, that it was agreed that the Doctor would be sent with Tuvok to re-examine Seven. Once she was cleared to travel, a request would be made for the Tau'ri to send Voyager back to the Milky Way.

As for the ship herself, it was thanks to the work put in by B'Ellana and her engineering teams, together with Harry, that the impulse engines were restored to a little over ninety percent efficiency. However, the warp drive was more damaged than previously thought. B'Ellana told the Captain that repairs for a fully efficient warp drive would take anywhere between two to three months; faster if they could get help from the Tau'ri and use of their energy-matter converters. For now, though, the best that B'Ellana could give the Captain was Warp Three. There was another issue that the senior staff had to contend with, and it was something that even Neelix and Chakotay agreed.

They thought it best that they be brought to one of the outlying Star-bases instead of to one of the homeworld of one of Federation's most important members. Instead of Earth, the crew had discussed the possibility of Voyager being brought back to Deep Space Nine. From there, the crew could begin repairs while Janeway reported to Starfleet. Janeway was aware of Willow and Cordelia telling them that the Tau'ri did visit Earth before; but discovering that their hosts were in reality Augments made her decide to have them bring Voyager to Deep Space-Nine instead.

It would be just after talking to the Doctor that Janeway received a message over her Comm-badge from Tuvok. He said that Willow wanted to talk to her over a secure channel. The Captain took in a deep breath while the Doctor suggested that she use his office to receive the redhead's call. The Captain ordered the Doctor to get his instruments ready while walking into his office. She then sat down and asked Tuvok to transfer the call from Willow to the Doctor's office while she opened a screen on top of the desk in front of her.

Just as she did, Willow's face appeared on the screen with the redhead nodding at the Captain.

"Captain," said Willow looking at the holographic HUD that popped up over a table in her bedroom, where she was seated with a large balcony behind her, "I just received news from Dr. Fraiser that your friend has regained consciousness. I take it you'll be sending the Doctor over to check on her."

"Yes, General," said Janeway in a professional tone of voice hiding the fact that her body was feeling cold from fear in regards to the woman being a possible Augment, "with your permission, I'd like to send my head of security, and two of his security personnel to accompany her back to Voyager."

"Of course," said Willow nodding her head while Faith sat up and yawned on the bed. The HUD was facing away from the rest of Willow and Faith's bedroom; however Faith could see who her wife was talking to… even if Janeway couldn't see her, "and Captain, I apologize for not being that great of a host. To make up for it, I would like for you and your senior staff to join us for breakfast."

"I... with all due respect, General," said Janeway who was slightly taken aback, "I would prefer getting Seven back, and then we'll go on our way to one of our outlying bases with your people's help."

"There's no mistaking the fact we'll get you folks home," said Willow wondering why Janeway didn't want to be sent directly to Earth while the Doctor walked into his office and stood to one side, "but I would guess you'd like to make sure that everything is alright with your colleague before we take you home.. or rather to this base of yours."

Janeway glanced over at the Doctor who nodded his head before saying that he'll need to get access to everything they did to create Seven's new body. He explained, so that Willow could hear as well, that he would need to know what he would have to do in the event Seven's body showed signs of deteriorating. Janeway looked at the Doctor, who looked sheepishly back at her before saying that they needed to take all precautions against any possible problems. Janeway knew this would be a slight setback in regards to leaving as soon as possible; a part of her was pushing for her to leave, but there was another part that was telling her that this was concerning the wellbeing of one of her crew, and she wanted to make sure that Seven would be safe and sound. So Janeway pushed down her fear of the Augments, and nodded her head.

"Good," said Willow, "I take it you prefer coffee?"

"Coffee?" asked Janeway her eyes narrowed at Willow, "how do you know about coffee?"

"We visited Earth before, Captain, remember?" said Willow, "my people really liked coffee. So much so we grow coffee, and even tea on a few of our colonies. You'll find we have a lot of things that are similar to your people, Captain. So... breakfast after you meet with your crewmember? Or we could just meet you in her room. And go on from there"

"The Doctor will take his team to perform an examination of Seven," said the Captain nodding her head while changing her mind to bring her entire Senior staff with, "and I'll bring my senior staff with me."

"Captain," said Willow nodding her head while continuing to speak, "the rest of crew is welcome to spend some time in the city before you get back. I mean, they didn't spend that much time; especially since I heard they had to return to your ship urgently."

"A few crewmembers fell ill," lied Janeway while she watched Willow raising an eyebrow, "I feared that we would spread this bout of, what we call the common cold, to your population. So, I ordered a return to the ship where the crew members have been quarantined."

"Oh?" asked Willow with concern in her voice, "are they alright? I mean the members of your crew who were sick?"

"Yes," said the Captain nodding her head, "the Doctor's given them some medication. They are resting right now."

"Well, I wish them a speedy recovery," Willow said while Faith was standing across form Willow, out of view of Janeway, "but you didn't have to worry about us. The city is capable of detecting foreign diseases and contaminants, Captain. If there's a dangerous viral outbreak, the city would go into automatic lock-down."

"I see," said Janeway nodding her head.

"Captain," Willow added while Faith headed for their washroom. The dark-haired Slayer was in a robe as she headed for the shower. She looked back over her shoulder at Willow who was seated behind a table, leaning forward while her arms on the surface and talking to Janeway on the holographic HUD. The redhead continued talking to Janeway, while looking through the image of the Starfleet Captain, at Faith turning around and slowly taking off her robe at the entrance to the shower. Willow's concentration returned to Janeway after Faith removed her robe and entered the shower. The redhead then pushed herself off her seat while continuing, "I know you've been scanning the City. And we didn't complain; all I'm asking in return is that you and your senior staff join me and a few of my senior staff for breakfast. Then once everything is set with your friend, I'll have the Persephone tow your ship back to the Milky Way. Agreed?"

"Agreed," said the Captain with a bit of hesitancy in her voice as Willow cut the connection before she took off her clothes and headed into the shower with Faith. Janeway leaned back on the doctor's seat while the Hologram was standing with his arms by his side. She knew that if the Tau'ri were on an equal technological footing with the Federation, there was every chance that their scans would be detected by Atlantis. What she didn't expect was that the Tau'ri would allow them to continue scanning the city without asking why Voyage was conducting a scan. She stood up and walked around the doctor's table while thinking of two possible scenarios; one was that the Tau'ri didn't care if they were being scanned; and that made Janeway both worried and curious since it meant that the Tau'ri had technology which they knew the Federation couldn't fully develop or understand. At least not yet.

"Doctor," said Janeway while she felt another weight falling on her shoulders, "the senior staff will be accompanying you to visit Seven. Once you've overseen her medical examination, bring her back to Voyager."

"Understood, Captain," said the Doctor, "umm… Captain, I know this may not be my place, what if we're wrong about these people. My medical tricorder only scanned Dr. Howe-Fraiser, and that was only by accident. Even with the ship's sensors discovering Borg nanites in over seventy percent of the city's population, I do not believe these people could be dangerous."

"I know," said Janeway as she rubbed her forehead in frustration before looking up at the doctor and putting her hands on her hips, "I'm a Starfleet officer, and my mandate is to explore strange new worlds and discover new civilizations. And we've met an advanced humanoid civilization in the Pegasus galaxy, a place that's just ripe for exploring. Imagine, Doctor… new worlds and species we haven't even heard of in a city that's named after one of Earth's greatest myths."

"A myth that the Tau'ri themselves claim to have spread on Earth during their many visitations," the Doctor reminded Janeway who nodded her head.

"But it is the fact that we have at least one Augment that is worrying," said the Captain, "one Augment is enough to kill the crew of an entire ship. I do not want to take that chance."

The Doctor understood Janeway's position as she walked past him while ordering Tuvok and the rest of the senior staff to meet her and the doctor in transporter room one..

**Atlantis Infirmary Suites, Central Tower, Room One, 0740 hours.**

Seven was lying on her bed while Cassie was looking at the screen on her tablet. The tablet, wirelessly connected to the bed, was able to give her every single bit of information in regards to Seven's health. She told the former Borg Drone that her blood pressure and heart rate were fine, that all nanites were purged from her body, and that her brain's pathways were working at an optimum level. Seven looked at Cassie who smiled at her before re-assuring her that she was going to be just fine, and that she'll still have access to the knowledge and memories of those the Borg had assimilated.

"We have several people in the city who can help devise a series of meditation techniques to help you come to terms with your new situation in terms of your mental health," said Cassie as she placed the tablet on a table and walked towards Seven's bed. Cassie then leaned down and helped Seven, who was now wearing a dark blue jumper that had the Stargate symbol for Earth etched on top of her left breast, up into a sitting position.

"Enough of me telling you how you should be feeling," said Cassie as she put her hands into her pockets and stepped back, "I'd like to know how you feel."

"I.. I do not know what to think," said Seven as she looked away and stared at her surroundings before looking back at Cassie, "everything feels different. I.. I feel human."

"That's the point," smiled Cassie, "but then again, you're one of two unique humans of your type that I know. Meaning, you're the second… wait, make it third clone I know. And the second to go through intense genetic engineering."

Seven nodded her head as she recalled Cassie telling her, twenty minutes ago, of someone she knew having gone through a much more extensive procedure. But Seven didn't want to know more about the second person, at least for now; not while she was still trying to get used to her new body. She closed her eyes and thought about equations for calculating a warp field, and a tingle went up her spine when she realized that she could recall that information as if she had just studied up on it a few minutes ago. She started thinking about more advanced calculations, and found that she was still able to do them in her head. However, the more she recalled information and knowledge hidden in her brain, the more of a throbbing pain she received at the side of her head.

Seven started to rub her temples while telling Cassie that she was experiencing discomfort. Cassie frowned and immediately picked up the tablet again. She took out the probe on the top of the tablet and held it over Seven's head. Cassie looked at the screen, and then at Seven who still rubbing the sides of her head while groaning.

"Seven," said Cassie as the younger woman looked up at her through squinted eyes while Cassie placed the probe back on its holder, "you're using more of your brain than any normal human. From what I understand, your implants used to regulate all of the excess impulses going through your brain, but right now… your body is creating new synaptic pathways to handle the load."

"This.. this was expected?" asked Seven.

"It was," replied Cassie as she walked to a corner of the room and pressed a button. She then walked over to Seven and told her that she would give her something to handle the pain, "but it'll be gone in about three hours. The more things you recall, the more your brain will get used to the information."

"The.. the woman you talked about. This happened to her?" asked Seven.

"Yes," said Cassie as she recalled hearing from Dawn the day Willow returned from Moro's lab. It was the day she discovered she was Athena; the day that Moros unlocked all of the redhead's ascended memories, it was the same day that he transferred his consciousness to Daniel. With Willow's mind burning, despite the cloned and advanced body, she was put into an unconscious state so that her mind could learn to handle all of the new information; all ten thousand years of her own memories, including that of her ascension, but without any of the knowledge. Cassie didn't reveal this to Seven, all she said was that her friend's pain was gone within a day.

It was then that Seven saw Cassie turn towards the sliding door behind her, and a young man of medium height wearing a long-tanned uniform walked into the room holding a small tray. Seven looked at the young man and immediately noticed the dark yellow pupils set against black iris'. She watched as Cassie thanked the young man while wearing some gloves before reaching into the tray and picking up what looked like a small, light-brown, bandage.

"Thank you, Eliam," said Cassie as the young man nodded his head. Seven watched Cassie peel the rear of the bandage while she introduced Eliam as an intern under her tutelage, and asked if he could place the plaster on the side of her neck. Seven looked at the plaster and then at Eliam before turning towards Cassie. She asked the doctor what she intended to do, and nodded her head while Cassie explaining that the plaster contained a time released pain relief solution that would last for twelve hours, at which time the patch would be absorbed into her skin. Eliam placed the patch on the side of her neck before stepping back. He then thanked Seven before turning to Cassie who asked him to meet her at three in the afternoon. Nodding his head, Eliam then left the room while Cassie turned back to Seven.

"I've already conducted a full genetic scan of your body," said Cassie, "and we've made sure that the patch wont adversely affect you in any way."

"You must provide the Doctor with any and all information on this new body," said Seven.

"I'll have a report sent to him, and I'll hand another copy that could be uploaded directly into his program," said Cassie.

"I will be able to assist him," said Seven staring at Cassie.

"Before you do," the doctor said, "you have to relax for a day, at least. It's all so that your mind gets used to the new memories and knowledge. Basically, I suggest some sleep."

"Sleep," Seven whispered looking away, "I will have to talk to Captain Janeway. I suppose I will require some quarters on the ship. And.. and then there is the debriefing in Starfleet when your people returns Voyager to the Alpha quadrant, and… and there is so many…"

"Calm down," said Cassie chuckling with Seven looking back at her, "just take it slow. Oh, I should also let you know, and I'll inform the Doctor as well, that the changes we've made to your body have a genetic lock. No one will be able to clone you, nor would they be able to perform experiments on your body in the search for how we did what we did. Only the Asgard are capable of unlocking your body's genetic code."

Cassie assured her that the doctors would be able to treat her for illnesses, or perform any genetic therapies, up to major surgery. The lock would only prevent her body from being cloned, and would prevent forms of experimentation done on her genetic code.

IT was just then that there was a gasp from behind Cassie. The doctor turned around, the young woman not having noticed Captain Janeway and the others standing at the doorway. They were gaping at Seven, who looked back at them before giving a small smile and nodding her head. The former drone was still seated on the bed as the Doctor approached Cassie. The two medical professionals then went off to one side and approached a screen where Cassie pressed some buttons before an outline of Seven's body appeared on screen.

In the meantime, though, Captain Janeway placed her hand on Seven's shoulder and smiled. She was then surrounded by a surprised senior staff, with B'Ellana patting her shoulder and welcoming her back

"How are you, Seven?" asked the Captain while Chakotay and the others looked at the young woman as Neelix patted her shoulder. Seven smiled at Neelix before telling Captain Janeway about the headache and what Cassie had told her while Tuvok glanced over at Cassie who was nodding her head at the Doctor. Tuvok then looked back at Seven and said that he felt Seven looked well, and that this was a new experience for her; a brand-new life.

"It is," added Chakotay as Seven nodded her head at him before looking at a concerned Janeway who looked as if she was about to ask a question.

"I…," Seven was about to interrupt Janeway, but suddenly stopped talking and looked over Janeway's shoulder when the door to her room slid open and a red haired woman walked in, followed by a dark haired woman, and then an older, grey haired gentleman with a cane in his left hand, and another grey haired man who already had a bald spot on his head. Next to him was a dark skinned man who was wearing grey robes and had a gold symbol on his forehead. However, it was the woman with the faded blonde hair who made Seven's heart start racing.

And it showed on the screen behind her.

"Seven?" asked Janeway as the former drone's eyes went wide open while the blonde looked at her confused. Willow was standing next to the blonde woman when she felt fear and anxiety coming off Seven, the emotions were so strong that it fell like a bag of bricks falling on her.

"I…. I…" said Seven as she recalled the images she had seen while Oberoth's hand was in her mind, "how… how…."

Seven's thoughts were so 'loud' that Willow was able to hear and see what was happening from Seven's perspective. The former drone was holding onto Captain Janeway's arm while the Starfleet personnel turned to the newcomers. Cassie and the Doctor dashed to Seven and ordered everyone back while the both of them lay her down as fear permeated Seven's body, making her heart race faster than any normal human.

Willow knew what was going on and dashed to Cassie's side looking down at Seven who was staring at the confused blonde. Willow looked up at the blonde, retired General Sam Carter, and then back at Seven.

"Annika," said Willow as Janeway stared at the redhead. She knew that no one, not even herself, gave anyone on Atlantis Seven's real name; and Seven herself knew this as well as she turned her head while panting, and stared at Willow, "Annika, my name is General Willow Rosenberg, I…"

"General," said the Doctor, "I need you to step back so that Dr. Fraiser and I can…"

"Cassie," said Willow looking at the younger redhead, "give me one minute."

"Her heart rate is off the scale, Willow," said a concerned Cassie before telling the Doctor to press the button on the wall. Instead of listening, the doctor lay the case he was carrying on a table and took out a hypo-spray. He was about to administer a sedative when Willow grabbed his hand and asked him to give her a minute.

"This isn't what you think," said Willow before she looked back at Seven and whispered, "you have nothing to fear, Annika. I see what you see…"

Seven's eyes went wide as she recalled Oberoth putting his hand into her head, the loss of control over her nanites, and then the sight of the blonde woman, followed by the energy wave that swept the Milky Way.

"Voyager," said Janeway pressing her comm-badge while Tuvok looked at Willow. In the meantime, the dark-haired woman, Faith, told Janeway to hold off calling for a beam out. She said that Willow was "one of the most powerful of her kind" and that she knew what she was doing. Janeway looked at Faith confused and asked what she meant by that while Willow looked back up at Tuvok. The Vulcan suddenly heard her voice in his head.

_Willow: "Lt. Commander, I apologize for not telling you and your crew about this earlier. But I am a skilled psionic and empath. I know what's wrong with your crewmate. She's experiencing true fear and anxiety for the first time, and she needs to learn how to overcome these fears on her own without medication if she's going to survive he new life. And the first step is to understand the fear and why it's there, and then to overcome it. Let me help her."_

"Captain," said Tuvok before Janeway could order that Voyager beam out the Doctor and Seven, "I understand your concern for Seven's wellbeing, but I believe that the General is best suited to help her."

Before Janeway could answer, Willow gently leaned forward with one hand gripping Seven's left hand, and asked her to tell her what she saw when she was connected to Oberoth.

"How.. how…" asked Seven as her heart raced even further.

"General…. Captain?" asked the Doctor as he found himself unable to move while looking at Janeway who placed her hand on the phaser on her hip. Faith grabbed Janeway's hand while Kim, Paris, and Tuvok placed their hands on the butts of their phasers. However, it was Daniel who said that no-one in the room meant anyone any harm.

"Just let Willow do what she's doing," said the Grey-haired man with the cane, retired General Jack O'Neill.

"Willow?" asked General Carter.

"She saw you, Sam," said Willow as she looked up at General Carter, "or your double. Replicarter."

The name sent a shiver up the spines of all the Atlantis personnel in the room. They remembered how evil the human-from replicator used to be, and what she had almost done if not for the timely intervention of one of the the Tau'ri's worst enemy, Ba'al.

"Replicarter?" asked Janeway as she looked at the frowning Sam who was looking straight at Seven. She wondered how it was that Seven knew about her double, and was pleasantly surprised when Willow also mentioned the fact that somehow Seven had seen the anti-replicator wave that spread throughout the galaxy through every single open Stargate. Willow then asked Seven if she could show her what really happened.

"Show her?" asked Janeway as Faith slowly took her hands off Janeway's while telling everyone to take it easy; that she understood they were only trying to protect their friend.

"Just watch," said Faith as she looked back at Willow. Through the physic link they shared, Faith sensed her wife activating her telepathy, and touching Seven's mind.

"Because I was there," said Willow as she joined with Seven's mind and showed her the final battle against the Replicator threat on Dakara. Seven found herself in her skin-tight purple uniform as she stood next to Willow. The blonde former drone asked Willow where it was they were, with Willow explaining that they were fighting to save the galaxy. Willow placed a hand on Seven's shoulder as they watched a memory of the redhead and Faith, together with a few Jaffa shooting and destroying hundreds of bug-type replicators. Walking past the roar of gunfire, Willow brought Seven to a room where there was a bald man looking at a laptop computer smirking at a hologram of an over-dressed man. However, Seven stared at the blonde woman in uniform standing next to the bald man, and she was pushing down columns on a pedestal-like device.

"That's the real Colonel Samantha Carter," said Willow as she looked at the memory of her friend, "the one in your mind is this woman."

Willow changed their surroundings to a lab where there was equipment strewn on the floor. Seven watched as a memory of Willow shot Replicarter in the face with a shotgun after she flung the real Colonel Carter to one side. The former drone watched as Replicarter, wearing the same black suit, grabbed Willow, turned her around and literally stabbed her through the back and the chest after changing her arm into a blade. Seven looked on stunned at the unconscious Colonel Carter, and then at Willow, who fell onto the ground and lost consciousness.

"There were two Sam Carter's," said Willow as she and Seven stood in a brightly lit room, "the human-form replicator is destroyed. What you saw? The Energy wave? It's a powerful weapon built by an ancient race of beings. We joined forces with one of our greatest enemies and activated all the Stargates, and then activated the device. It destroyed every single replicator that followed Replicarter into the Milky Way. That's what you saw."

"I… I saw you die," said Seven when she thought back to the blade going through Willow's heart, "how are you alive?"

"My body is almost like yours," said Willow as the two faced each other while surrounded by white light. Seven arched an eyebrow at the redhead and asked if she was the one Cassie was talking about earlier that day. Willow nodded her head before saying that a powerful Goa'uld once took over her body. Willow could see the confusion on Seven's face, but she didn't want to show the former drone her memories. So Willow told Seven that she'll tell her about the Goa'uld at another time, "or, as I'm probably sure, Captain Janeway would be briefing you on the Goa'uld. And what we did."

"What you did?" asked Seven.

"All you need to know is that a Goa'uld learned how to shed his mortal body and become a being of pure energy. To make a long story short, he was kicked out of the higher planes by other beings like him since he was evil." Willow then went on to say that he tried to invade her homeworld, but he was defeated, "but since he's an energy being, he couldn't be destroyed. So he possessed my body."

Willow placed her hands behind her back and took a step towards Seven as their surroundings changed to a mental projection of a rolling country side. Seven looked around at her surroundings, and then at Willow who told her that the Goa'uld activated latent psychic powers within her. Willow knew she was telling a little white lie, the fact was that she had those powers in a limited fashion even before encountering Anubis' energy form. The fact was that her possession was the catalyst that activated her hidden Ancient powers to their full potential since Anubis was able to use his Ancient knowledge to work Willow's body. The redhead left all that out as she and Seven walked on green grass down a gentle hill.

"My body wasn't ready for those powers," said Willow, "and it started to degrade after he exited my body. I was dying."

"I see," said Seven nodding her head.

"There are a few things that you don't know, that your Captain doesn't know, and the Federation doesn't know," said Willow as she turned and faced Seven once again, "there will come a time where everything will be revealed to your superiors, but for right now all you need to know is that Replicarter is dead."

Seven blinked, and then suddenly found herself back in her room. She was looking up at Willow who nodded at her before looking up at Cassie, and releasing the Doctor from her mental hold. Cassie said that Seven's heart rate was quickly normalizing as the Doctor, surprised at what just happened, held Seven to a sitting position. Cassie then helped turn Seven around while Willow stepped back and then walked around the bed.

"You're a psionic?" asked Janeway who added that Tuvok notified her immediately after she and Seven had gone silent for nearly thirty seconds. Willow nodded her head before apologizing to the Doctor for stopping him. She said that she was holding onto the force fields that contained that photons that he was made of.

"Thirty seconds?" asked Seven confused looking at Willow and then at Janeway.

"Yep," said General O'Neill with his hands in his pocket, "Red here has been using that nifty ability since she joined up with us. Our team been able to communicate with each other instantaneously."

"Captain Janeway," said Willow as she approached the older man, "this is retired General Jack O'Neill, Retired General Samantha Carter, Dr. Faith Lehane, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c of the Free Jaffa Nation."

Captain Janeway nodded at each of them before she introduced herself, and then her senior staff; some of whom were patting Seven on the back and asking if she was feeling better. Seven nodded her head before everyone turned to Willow.

"Before we continue," said the Doctor while he was running a medical probe from his tricorder over Seven's body, "I believe it would be appropriate to ask if Seven would still like to be called… well, Seven. Given that she is fully human, albeit one who is continuing to build on her existing neural pathways to accommodate what could amount to terraquads of information."

"I believe I will make a decision on my designation at another time," said Seven.

"General Carter," said Willow nodding her head at Seven before turning towards the light blonde haired woman, "when Oberoth accessed her mind, somehow she was able to see Replicarter making a speech; something about taking over the Milky Way after talking to Daniel."

"That's amazing," said Daniel.

"You are that Daniel Jackson?" asked Seven. Daniel nodded his head just as Chakotay placed his hands on his waist and narrowed his eyebrows. Janeway, noticing the confused look on her first officer's face, asked him if he was feeling alright.

"There was an archaeologist in early twentieth century Earth named Daniel Jackson," said Chakotay while Daniela and Willow looked at each other. The both of them hadn't expected this development, especially given the fact that a computer virus was supposed to have wiped out any and all names of personnel who belonged to Stargate Command, Homeworld Security, and several other agencies responsible for off-world activities. Faith sighed while Chakotay explained this author had been the laughing stock of the archaeological community, "I came upon a copy in the United Earth archives in Chicago. There weren't a lot left after the war, but I found a copy that lost a few pages."

"I see," said Daniel, "I'm sure there are many Daniel Jackson's throughout the galaxy."

"Anyway," said Willow changing the subject quickly, "while we were in Seven's mind, I also saw the anti-replicator energy burst that covered the Milky Way."

Before Janeway and the others Starfleet officers could ask, General Carter told them about the replicator invasion of the Milky Way. She talked about Replicarter and the final battle on Dakara. Janeway listened and wondered why none of this was mentioned by any of the other races in the Federation, 'surely they must have encountered these Replicators as well. When we return to the Alpha Quadrant, we need to verify these stories somehow.'

Willow then went on to tell the General about the breakup of the ships at the edge of the galaxy. She said that the nanites fell on a planet, and then took over organic life on the world and spread like a disease.

"They were replicating," said General Carter in surprise, "Willow, so the anti-replicator weapon worked on Seven because the nanocells in her blood regulating her body were really Replicator nanocells?"

"The Borg are descendants of the Replicators?" asked Faith. "then why haven't they attacked the advanced races in the Milky Way?"

Daniel and Teal'c explained to the Starfleet personnel that the Replicators would attack the more advanced races in any galaxy before moving on to the less developed races. They would assimilate their technology and destroy biological life before moving on to the next civilization until only they existed. However, this time, the Replicators didn't continue onto the advanced civilizations.

Trying to wrap her mind around the possibility that there was a lot she still didn't understand about the Tau'ri and their battles against enemies she hadn't even heard of, Janeway offered a possible explanation. She said that based on Seven's description of a scream following the destruction of the replicators in the galaxy itself, there were possibly more ships waiting in the outer fringes that were hit by a feedback pulse that interfered with the connections between each nanite. The feedback from the destruction caused the nanites to revert to its most basic programming.

"To replicate," said Chakotay while General Carter said it was a distinct possibility.

"The Replicators were always controlled by a queen," said Teal'c, "and worked as one mind, for one cause. Perhaps that too survived the feedback pulse."

"So when they crashed onto the planet," said Kim nodding his head, "and like Seven explained, they took over the first sign of life. And then they spread out."

"Taking out trillions of lifeforms into their new collective," said Paris in disbelief.

"We can discuss all of this during breakfast," said Willow before turning to Janeway, "and I know you're afraid. I can hear your thoughts and.. well… it's not exactly easy to not listen when you keep on mentally screaming that you need to be careful since we're augments."

"I didn't mean to…" said Janeway. She thought about lying, but the she simply ended up shaking her head before sighing, "yes, that is what I'm thinking. It's no use hiding it since you're a psionic."

"We're not Augments," said Faith who tried to hide her shudder at the thought of the Augment ripping her original arm off her body, "we weren't born in test-tubes in a lab. The majority of us are augmented after the fact… and it was voluntarily done."

"To destroy the Wraith?" asked Paris.

"The Wraith?" asked Seven.

"Before the Persephone takes you guys home," said Willow seeking to assure Janeway that they were indeed going to be taken home. However, she could sense that there was still unease about the Tau'ri being augmented beings… and unease about the genocide of the Goa'uld, Wraith, and now the Replicators. Willow didn't feel that they needed to explain anything else, and the other Atlantis personnel in the room mentally agreed. They believed that a 'show and tell' session was far more effective in showing Starfleet the danger that the Wraith presented, "we'll have some breakfast, and then we'll take you guys to a planet over two thousand light years away."

"There's something you need to see," said General Carter while the Starfleet personnel looked at each other perplexed, "and then maybe you'll see true evil."

**Over Cardassia Prime, at that same time.**

A tear in space opened up over the Cardassian home world leading to all Jem'hader, Breen and Cardassian ships heading towards the newly formed breach. The Jem'hader notified the female Changeling on the surface in the Cardassian Military Headquarters, where she was planning for the next battle. The Vorta known as Weyoun was by her side, as were the leader of the Breen military, and a few Jem'Hader guards. They were dealing with the beginnings of a rebellion led by Damar and at the same time guiding the Dominion war effort in the Alpha Quadrant when there was word on the sudden appearance of a breach in orbit of Cardassia Prime.

"On screen," said the female Changeling. Once the screen activated, she and the others witnessed a giant ship exiting the breach. Once the breach closed up behind it, the ship was immediately attack by the orbiting vessels. It was all for naught however when the phasers, torpedoes, energy dampening beams, and polaron beams hit a shield several times more powerful than their own. Weyoun was looking at another screen and exclaimed that the strange ship was being powered by something they had never seen before.

"There are no warp drives, or deflectors or…"

Before Weyoun could continue speaking, the Breen spoke in their language and said that there was something wrong. That their weapons weren't having an effect on the shield when suddenly there was a screeching sound in the middle of the room. Everyone then turned, including the female Changeling, and watched a figure shimmer into being while the Jem'Hader raised their weapons at the intruder. The female Changeling ordered everyone to put their weapons down since they were looking at a hologram. She then eyed the man dressed in opulent clothing with a smug look of satisfaction on his face when the new Cardassian Legate rushed in to say that the orbiting ships were destroyed.

"Confirm this, Weyoun," said the Female Changeling calmly while eyeing the newcomer.

"HE is correct," said the surprised Vorta as he looked at another screen, "all ships have been destroyed."

"Have all the other Dominion ships stop attacking this new vessel," said the Changeling as she glared at the newcomer. She stepped forward and locked her jaw before speaking once again, "who are you?"

"We have a common enemy," said the man ignoring her question, "it has been a long time since I placed myself into stasis while my Jaffa continued work on my return. And imagine my surprise when I find that the balance of power in the galaxy has shifted yet again. Once my people ruled this galaxy and now… now it's all a mess."

"I demand to know who you are," said the Changeling.

"I am the one who can give you want you want," said the man, "what want in return, is the home of the Tau'ri. They are the only threat to my return, and to my rule. And once I have taken the Tau'ri homeworld, I will take every single world that belonged to the Goa'uld, and even those that did not."

"We have only just learned of the existence of the Tau'ri," said the female Changeling as she recalled the ship that interfered in the Breen surprise attack against Earth. Once of the Changelings who infiltrated Starfleet informed her of the race of aliens who helped the organization defend the planet. With the element of surprise now gone, the desire to attack Earth directly was gone as well… and so, the Dominion continued with its plans to conquer the Alpha quadrant, "and you say you want their homeworld? Well, if that is all it takes then you can have it. The Alpha quadrant is the greatest danger to the Dominion, so giving up one planet will be a sacrifice worth making."

"You misunderstand, I will take the entire galaxy after their homeworld," said the man while the Changeling looked on, "I know your race is dying, and I have access to technology from one of the four great races that once defended this galaxy. I will help you and your people beat this disease in return for the entire galaxy. You can keep claim over your territory, but you will live under my rule."

Weyoun was about to say something when the hologram interrupted.

"Name a world, I will show you the power I possess if it would make your decision to submit that much easier," said the man as the Changeling grew more furious as she clenched her fist, "you will see that I can be a benevolent god."

"The Founders are the true gods," exclaimed Weyoun.

"Little boy," said the man as his eyes glowed and voice changed to a deep gravelly tone, "I am a god. Name a world, and I will destroy it with the power in my possession. Once I have destroyed that world, you will submit to me."

"Destroy Earth," said the female Changeling, "it is the headquarters of the Federation, and with its downfall.. the other Federation worlds will fall one after another."

"I have other plans for Earth," said the man, "don't worry, Changeling. I have a plan that would enable your soldiers to infiltrate Earth under my banner. They will be augmented by my own troops and when the Tau'ri see that their ancestral homeworld is being attacked… they will come out of hiding and defend it. And then, with this new power in my hands, I will finally destroy them."

"The Tau'ri homeworld?" asked the Changeling with genuine surprise on her face, "Earth?"

"Earth will be the center of my new kingdom," said the man, "and now… name a world so that you shall see my power. Or should it be your own home world, Changeling? Or perhaps the planet below?"

"Bajor," said the new Cardassian Legate as the Changeling turn and was about to yell at him. However, the Cardassian explained that having Bajor destroyed would bring the Cardassians closer to the Dominion; thus smashing a hammer into the fledgling rebellion.

"And I will allow you to keep your territory," said the holographic man, "I am a benevolent god after all. As long as I am not betrayed. You want to keep your territories in order? I am the one who can put down the disorder, and bring genuine peace. I will make your world's great again so that you rule over my possessions."

The Changeling turned back to the newcomer while various thoughts ran through her head. She knew that she and her people were dying of a disease. For all their technology and knowledge, there was still no cure to be found. And while she never heard of the Goa'uld, she did see their power when one ship destroyed twenty Dominion vessels without much of a problem. She knew that all she needed to do was receive the cure, and then spread the cure to her people through the Great Link. Once that was done, the female Changeling was going to make sure the man in front of her paid for this great insult.

'For two thousand years, the Dominion held sway over the Gamma quadrant,' thought the Changeling to herself, 'and now this ingrate dares insult us by claiming goodhood over us; to help us? No, once we have the cure, we will kill him and take his technology. We shall see who lords over who…'

"Very well," said the female Changeling, "show me what you are capable of… and you still have not mentioned your name."

"My name is Ba'al," he said, "and you may call me 'Lord'."

TBC.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Ba'al's Mothership, a few seconds later.**

The female Changeling, the three Breen, Legate Broca - the third military leader of the Cardassian Union, Weyoun, the Jem'Hadar, and the Cardassian guards in the room heard a screeching sound around them after the hologram of Ba'al vanished. They then found themselves awash in white light before their surroundings changed to a rather large room with a viewport that looked out into space.

"Welcome to my throne room," said a deep, gravelly voice, as the group turned around and saw Ba'al seated on a golden chair. There was an empty chair next to him that was decorated even more ornately that his own. The newcomers, who ordered their guards not to attack, then observed that Ba'al was leaning back with one hand rubbing his chin as he eyed the newcomers. The Changeling stared at her surroundings and saw dim lights shining from the ceiling while the walls were adorned with lit flaming torches. She then stared at Ba'al, who stood to his feet before making his way down a few steps. She then focused on the statues behind him. The Changeling then glanced over at the four humanoid beings in black armour who were simply standing two to a statue, flanking Ba'al.

It was the same with the two black armoured beings standing at an entrance, blocking it. And there were another two standing at a curtained off entrance. The newcomers watched as the curtain was pulled to one side before a dark-haired woman walked through with a flowing cape behind her. The changeling and the others narrowed their eyes at the woman who was dressed in an intricately designed strapless gold dress; a green jewel with a black ribbon around her neck, and a beautifully designed ribbon-like glove curled around her left hand with a red jewel in her palm. She glared at the Changeling and the others before she turned to Ba'al who bowed his head slightly with a smile on his lips. The woman looked at him as her eyes glowed orange before turning towards the window.

"This is my mate and your future queen," said Ba'al as the woman stood at the viewport looking out at the stars.

"Has they responded, Ba'al?" asked the woman while Ba'al said that it was very unlikely that 'they' were even still alive. He said that the two people she was talking about were dead.

"Maybe," said the woman, "we must begin. Our slaves and worshippers await us."

The Changeling stood unimpressed looking at the back of the so-called queen before she turned to stare at Ba'al. In the meantime, the Cardassians were staring at the men in silver etched armour as they stood behind consoles and tapped various buttons and columns. The Breen and Weyoun noticed the intricate design on the walls, but they couldn't understand the language.

"Show us what you are willing to do to help the Dominion, Ba'al," said the changeling.

"The Dominion will be the ones submitting to me, Changeling," said Ba'al with a smile while the queen remained silent, "never forget that."

He then looked at the Cardassians, Weyoun, the Breen soldiers, and then back to the Changeling in front of him. The Goa'uld knew she was no danger to him or to his ship due to the disease running through her biology; and he was also very aware that his own genetically engineered Jaffa standing behind him in the modified Kull armour would be an equal against the foot soldiers of the Dominion, the Jem'Hadar.

"Once I have crippled Bajor as an example of my power," said Ba'al as he looked at the female Changeling, "and when you have pledged your undying loyalty and servitude; only then will I give you the cure."

He then turned to the Cardassians and told them that he would ensure that they were masters of their own territory. Legate Broca said that the Klingons had dealt them heavy blows as of late, and he would pledge the loyalty the of entire Cardassian Union to Ba'al if he could show him he had the technology to destroy one of the enemies who had embarrassed Cardassia; the Bajorans.

However, Broca knew that it was a risk. The Cardassians were beholden to the Dominion. They promised that the Cardassian Union would reach the height of power they once had under their rule. But that had never come to fruition and Legate Broca knew the people were unhappy. Now here was someone else promising the destruction of their hated enemy, the Bajorans. And there was something telling him that Ba'al would be able to make do with his threats. The Legate knew Ba'al had to be able to do something… or else the Dominion would turn on the Cardassians and kill each and every man, woman, and child for betraying them.

"I will have your loyalty," said Ba'al before turning to the Breen soldiers, including to the General in charge of all Breen, "you will receive whichever territory pleases you. However, Earth is mine."

The Breen looked at each other before saying that they wanted Vulcan and Romulus, as well as their colonies. They intended to carve up the Federation and conquer each section in their own way. Ba'al nodded his head with a smirk on his lips.

He then told the group that they were about to head to Bajor. The group watched as the giant two-thousand-meter-long ship entered a breach that opened in space., changing a few seconds later to the blue and white tunnel of hyperspace all around them. Before the Changeling could ask, with a look of genuine surprise on her face at seeing something that she had never seen before, Ba'al said that they were travelling in hyperspace.

A few minutes later, the group looked on as the giant ship exited hyperspace and stopped over the planet known as Bajor.

"Lord Ba'al," said one of the Jaffa as the newcomers turned to the bald man who had a golden tattoo etched on his forehead, "we are being hailed from the surface."

"I do not wish to hear from those I do not see as my equals," said Ba'al as the Cardassians in the group looked at each other and smirked before turning to Ba'al once again, "for now, I am a vengeful god who only wants to earn the love of my subjects… my true children."

"You do pretend to be a god perfectly," mocked the Changeling while Weyoun agreed as the Jem'Hadar prepared to make their move once they were ordered to by the Changeling.

"I have been alive for over ten thousand years," smiled Ba'al as the Changeling glared at him while the others looked at each other and whispered among themselves, "I have died and been reborn many times. If that is not the power of a god, then I don't know what is."

"Ba'al… I mean, Lord Ba'al," said Legate Broca as the Changeling and the others looked at him, "I meant what I said earlier. If I can tell the Cardassians that the Bajorans infiltrated a small cell led by the traitor Damar, and that it was them who were attacking innocents on Cardassia... then this attack can be a retaliation for so many deaths of Cardassian men, women, and children. The destruction of Bajor will unite the Cardassian Union with you."

Ba'al smiled before heading back to his command seat.

"Watch, Changeling," said Ba'al as he sat down once again, "watch how a god earns more followers. Through acts of love for those who worship them, and acts of destruction for those who insult them."

"The Founders are the true gods," said Weyoun, "they have…"

"The Goa'uld were gods long before your species started to walk," hissed Ba'al interrupting Weyoun before turning to his First Prime, "fire all enhanced weapons at the surface."

"Sensors are tracking ships coming towards us, my Lord," said the other Jaffa.

"Destroy them while firing on the surface," said Ba'al, "prepare the main weapon, and activate the Eyes of the Gods."

"Understood," said the First Prime while Ba'al motioned for the newcomers to look at the holographic screen that popped up from one of the consoles. They saw, thanks to the external sensors while the Cardassians smiled, orange coloured bolts of energy being fired on the planet below. They could imagine the screams of pain and the wanton destruction being caused by the attack on the cities on Bajor.

"Where are your prophets and Emissary now?" whispered Legate Broca **.**

**Orbit of Earth, USS Enterprise, five minutes earlier.**

Thanks to information from a lone Klingon ship that survived the destruction at the Chin'toka system, and the data sent by the Persephone in regards to the Breen energy dampening weapon, the Starfleet engineers were able to discover a way to neutralise its effects. With Laforge and Data on the surface helping with refining upgrades to their existing shield generators with several other engineers, the Enterprise was orbiting Earth with twenty other ships.

"Is the Sao Paolo ready to go to Deep Space Nine, Admiral," asked Captain Picard as he spoke to Admiral Paris from his ready room. The Admiral was on the surface in his office while replying that new shield generators had to be installed on the Sao Paolo before it could be sent to Deep Space Nine. And that would take another two weeks.

"In the meantime, we have to hope that Damar's rebellion on Cardassia holds out," said the Admiral when captain Picard was called out to the bridge by Commander Riker. The Captain told the Admiral that they would continue speaking at a later time before he rushed out of the ready room and onto the bridge.

"Report," he commanded.

Commander Riker, who was sitting on a seat to the left of the Captain's chair, told him that they were reading an unknown form of subspace radiation; the same radiation as the one emitted by the Persephone's hull a few days ago.

"Looks like our friends have…." The Captain didn't finish what he wanted to say when a breach opened up and an unknown vessel jumped out of hyperspace and slowed down before stopping. The crew of the Enterprise, including the crew of the other ships, were curious about the new ship that had a black hull with the rear portion pyramid shaped in design. In addition, there were two large wings that extended from the base and curved forward into the forward cockpit of the vessel. The Captain was curious about the new ship, but there was another part of him that felt uneasy. It was a feeling he couldn't explain while Counsellor Troi stood up rubbing the sides of her head. Noticing the woman's unease, Commander Riker rushed to her and asked if she was feeling alright.

"Rage… Commander," said Troi while rubbing the side of her head, "so much rage."

"From the crew of the ship?" asked the Captain as Troi held onto Riker's arm.

"There are two people on the ship," said the counsellor looking out the viewscreen at the smaller vessel, "but the rage is so blinding. Rage at us."

"Sir," said Lt. Daniels, the tactical officer, "sensors are showing only one life sign."

"I'm reading two," said the Counsellor while continuing to rub her temples, "and they have so much hate."

"Hailing frequencies," Commanded Captain Picard. Riker nodded his head and then pressed a few buttons on the panel in front of him before nodding his head at the Captain and saying that frequencies were open.

"This Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise," said the Captain as he stared out the view screen at the ship, "unknown vessel, you are in controlled Space. Identify yourself."

However, there was no response. The Captain repeated his hail as the ship, an Al'Kesh, hung in open space facing the ships that were orbiting Earth.

"The time of reckoning has come for Earth, your god is coming.. You will bow down to him and his queen," said a voice a few seconds after the third hail. While Riker and the others had faced everything from the Borg to the Sona'a, there was something in the man's gravelly voice that sent a shiver up his spine. It was a gut instinct that had Riker recommend to the Captain that the fleet over Earth raise their shields and charge their phasers.

"I… I agree, Captain," said Troi shaking her head, "I haven't felt rage like this from any species, not even the Borg."

"Captain," said Guinan through her comm-badge. The woman was standing near a viewport in Ten-Forward looking at the mysterious ship. She remembered the stories she heard from the Salish and several other people's description that matched the ship she was seeing with her own two eyes. And a cold chill went through her body, "this is a Goa'uld ship."

"You said the Tau'ri destroyed the Goa'uld," said Picard, "Guinan, how can this ship be from a people supposedly wiped out?"

"Captain," said Lieutenant Daniels, "I'm reading a massive power surge."

"Order the fleet to raise shields and prepare to fire all phasers and quantum torpedoes," said the Captain. A few seconds later there was a beep indicating the fleet acknowledged the order. Every ship then raised shields and targeted the Goa'uld ship with their phasers and torpedoes. Lt. Daniels then said that the surge coincided with another power surge on Earth. All of a sudden, the Goa'uld ship then came about and opened a breach before jumping into it. The Captain looked on confused while the Trill Conn officer, Kell Perim, turned around from her console and said that they were receiving a message from Starfleet Command about a white light depositing a ring-shaped object on the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters in the Presidio.

"On screen," the Captain ordered. The viewscreen changed from the star field around Earth, to the grounds above Starfleet Headquarters. The image on the screen showed a grey coloured, ring-shaped object that several people were already surrounding. The captain then turned to Riker and ordered him to have quarantine set up around the ring, and then have a science team accompanied by Data and Laforge to investigate the object. However, before Riker could even transmit the order, Ensign Perim said that sensors were showing a power surge coming from the ring. They watched as the gathered officers stepped back as the chevrons around the device lit up, while some had their tricorders open and scanning the inside edge fo the device. When the seventh symbol was activated, everyone heard and saw the whoosh of an unstable vortex that shot outwards... instantly killing several officers who were in the way. Everyone watched in stunned silence as the vortex settled into a pool of what looked like rippling blue water.

"Get me Admiral Paris," ordered the Captain when suddenly Ensign Perim said that they were getting a subspace signal all the way from Bajor. She added that the signal was being beamed through all Federation frequencies; including all secured frequencies.

"Secured frequencies?" repeated the Captain. He knew that only high-level officers of the Federation fleet had access to those secured channels. And there was no way a Federation officer would willingly give access to an enemy. The Captain then asked whose security code was being used to access the secured channels, and the man was stunned to learn that it was from Captain Edward Jellico of the USS Cairo which was on a deep space assignment.

"Contact the Cairo," ordered Captain Picard who knew that the ship was supposed to be on a deep space assignment against the Dominion, "and put the subspace signal on-screen."

"Aye," replied the Ensign before she turned around and tapped some buttons on the panel in front of her. The screen switched from the pool of blue in the middle of the ring on the Presidio as Geordie and Data approached it cautiously, to a ship that was firing down on Bajor while destroying various Bajoran vessels that were doing their best to defend their Homeworld.

"Oh my God," whispered the Commander as he and the others stared at the destruction on the planet below.

"Get me Admiral Paris, now!" barked Picard while wondering if the giant ship that was currently turning over so that it's domed section was facing the planet, belonged to the Goa'uld. His artificial heart was racing as he watched the orange pulse blasts hitting the surface of the planet.

He knew that people were dying, and all they could do was watch.

**Station Deep Space Nine, Control Room, a few seconds ago.**

The Emissary of the Bajoran Prophets, the aliens who lived in what the Federation thought was the only stable artificial wormhole in the galaxy, rushed out of his office. He ran down the stairs and to the control room where his First Officer, the Bajoran Major Kira Nerys, said they were receiving an emergency broadcast from Bajor.

"On screen," the bald, dark skinned man commanded. They turned to the activated screen and listened to the leader of the Bajoran militia reporting that a ship had appeared in orbit of the planet only a few seconds ago. He said that after several unanswered hails were sent to the ship, several Bajoran Militia vessels were sent up to intercept the vessel. However, all of them were instantly destroyed. And then the picture on the screen started to crackle before it disappeared and the screen went dead. A few seconds later, one of the Bajoran officers said that they were receiving a secured signal from Starfleet.

"Put it through," ordered the Captain while his heart raced, and a cold shudder went through his body at feeling that something was very wrong. Immediately the eyes of everyone in the control room widened, with the Bajorans in the control room placing hands over their mouths in shock at what they were witnessing. They knew that with the Defiant destroyed, there was nothing anyone in the station could do but watch... that even with the runabouts, they were utterly powerless as another Bajoran ship was destroyed in one blast. Starfleet sent another message telling the Captain that four Starfleet ships that were heading for the station were being re-routed to Bajor to handle the attacking ship, as well as a Klingon battle group that was heading for the station, and four Vulcan and Romulan ships.

There was just a quick acknowledgement as the Captain and the others who were soon joined by the senior staff upon hearing that Bajor was being attacked, rushed up to the control room. And it wasn't just the senior staff, monitors all over the station were being taken over by the Federation signal as Bajorans held each other in fear, while others rushed to the Bajoran temple and prayed for the Prophets to intervene as the planet was being bombarded.

"Old man," said the Captain as he looked at Ezri Dax while Constable Odo was holding onto the stunned Major Kira. Everyone, from Deep Space Nine to the Enterprise, to the Vulcan Capital, to Starfleet Headquarters, and throughout the major Alpha Quadrant homeworlds, was watching the destruction. Everyone watched as the scene changed from the planet being bombarded to the inside of a large dimly lit room. Everyone stared at their screens at Legate Broca as he spoke, "my fellow Cardassians. The rebellion on Cardassia Prime is being led by the traitor Damar with the aid of our greatest enemies; the Federation, the Klingons, and the Bajorans. To my brothers and sisters in the rebellion, if you surrender now, you will be forgiven as we fight back against the three races who have caused us the most pain."

"What the hell is he doing?" asked Captain Sicko.

"To those of you who do not surrender, who insist on working with the traitor known as Damar," said Broca as he breathed in and out before speaking, "you will watch what happens to those who betray us. To those who terrorise us. To those who want to crush us under their heels. Listen to our god, Ba'al."

"Ba'al?" asked Captain Sisko who was confused as were the others in the station as they watched the broadcasts. Everyone in the Federation was watching the broadcast in disbelief as another Bajoran ship was destroyed. All of them had the exact same question in their heads: who was Ba'al? Where was Starfleet? And what happened to the Dominion?

**Mid-Way station, void between Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies, a few minutes ago.**

The Mid-Way station was once the transit stop for the CMR, Carter-Mckay-Rosenberg, Gate bridge hundreds of years ago. It was meant to cut down the time for travelling from the SGC to Atlantis from what used to be a ten-day voyage by ship in the years before the exodus from Earth to only thirty minutes. Anyone could be send direct to the Midway station through a series of Stargates that lined the void after activation of a macro developed by Dr. McKay only from the SGC. Once transit was completed through the Milk Way section of the Gate bridge at the Midway Station, another Macro was input to send a traveller directly to Atlantis through the line of Pegasus Stargates.

Once the Tau'ri and their allies left the Milky Way for good following the destruction of the Goa'uld and the activation of the Avenger Three virus, it was left unused. However, it was only recently reactivated and overhauled with the latest technology by the Tau'ri after coming out of the time dilation field forty years ago. The overhaul had taken a little over five years, but it was finally completed and the station began a new life as a listening station for any problems in the Milky Way that could affect Earth or Pegasus. While the listening station played a small part in the station, it was still important with the rest of the Station being used for experimental research by Kobolians, the Tau'ri, the Asgard, the Jaffa, and various other races of the Pegasus Alliance.

The station used powerful subspace transceivers to connect to the various cloaked satellites the Ancients and the Tau'ri themselves had left long ago. It was through this listening post that information was gathered on the Breen attack a few days ago before being sent to analysts on Atlantis.

It was this fateful day that both Johnathan and Andrew were on the station's listening post where sensors were directed towards Earth. The both of them were conducting their own research when an alarm started to blare. They got off their computers and then headed to another console where they saw an image of Earth and a small pyramid ship being surround by several other vessels.

"I'm seeing a Goa'uld Al'kesh," said Jonathan as he looked at the monitor. Andrew rushed over to him and said that it wasn't possible, that the Goa'uld were all destroyed. Jonathan then said that what they were watching was happening in real-time and that it was certainly a Goa'uld ship. They then read a surge of energy on their instruments before zooming into the location of the energy surge and were stunned to find a Stargate in the Presidio. They looked at each other before turning back to the Stargate dialling, followed by an activation.

"That's not possible," said Andrew as he rushed to another console and contacted the station administrator and asked her if the Avenger Three virus was still present throughout the Milky Way network. Their hearts fell when the young Sikarian on the other line said that she just tried to dial a planet in the Milky War after inputting the Macro, but there was no luck.

"Dial Atlantis, Lianta," said Andrew while Jonathan called his attention back to the console. Andrew turned from the intercom on the wall and stared at the strange planet that was being fired upon, before turning back to the intercom and telling Lianta to contact Willow at Atlantis, "this is a Code Red. Priority One… General Rosenberg needs to see this. Send the signal from the listening post directly to where-ever Willow is on Atlantis. It's the Goa'uld. They've returned."

"Dialling Atlantis," said Lianta as she input the code in a hurry while Andrew watched Legate Broca appear on the screen.

**Seven's Room, Atlantis, a few seconds later.**

"General Rosenberg to your nearest monitor on coded channel One-Five-Two, you have an urgent message from Midway Station," said the voice over Atlantis' PA system. Willow, who was still with the Starfleet personnel, headed to the monitor behind Seven's bed. It was currently disabled since the blonde woman was on a hoverchair being prepared to head out for breakfast with her crewmates.

Willow activated the screen, input a code on the screen, before inputting her clearance code and stepped back as Jonathan and Andrew's face appeared.

"Willow," said Andrew while the redhead nodded her head, "we have a problem. There's something you need to hear and see from the Milky Way."

"Go ahead," said Willow as the picture turned to Legate Broca. Willow turned around towards Janeway who said that they were listing to a Cardassian. Everyone stopped what they were doing when Broca mentioned Ba'al's name. Willow's eyes went up and stared at the two General's and the rest of the former SG-1, and Cassie, before turning to the screen. Janeway and the others were confused as to what was happening when a bearded man stepped into the video while the Legate bowed his head at the newcomer and stepped back.

"Seriously," said General O'Neill with a frown as Ba'al smirked, "that guy is like a cockroach. You kill him but he always pops up somewhere and…"

"Jack," said General Carter as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"General," said Janeway looking at Willow, and then at General Carter and O'Neill, "who's Ba'al?"

"People of the so-called Alpha Quadrant," exclaimed Ba'al with a smile on his face before the three General's could answer. The gravelly voice bringing Janeway's attention back to him, as well as the attention of the other people in the room… and of those in the orbiting stations over Lantea, and Atlantis, "it has been far too long. Once upon a time, the Galaxy feared the Goa'uld… feared me. But why would you want to fear a god?"

"Here he goes," said General O'Neill rolling his eyes.

"And yes, I am a god," gushed Ba'al, "I died so many times, but I have always returned. And now… once I discovered the Tau'ri returned to protect the planet that was once their home… I decided it was time to make myself known. I will show the Tau'ri that despite all they have done, they can never stop a god. They have tried, but they can never stop me. And now I will show my power. My ship is over the world known as Bajor. From what I gained thanks to intelligence on this backward world, they worship some gods called Prophets. And they have an emissary to protect them. That is blasphemy to my name. And these small creatures have hurt those who worship me."

"The Tau'ri homeworld is… Earth?" said Picard on the Enterprise as he turned and stared in surprise at the shocked looks on the faces of Troi and the others while Ba'al continued to talk in the background. Picard then, with his jaw set while more questions swam in his mind, turned back around and stared at the face of the madman on the screen.

"Now he has a queen?" asked Daniel back in Atlantis. The view then changed to a giant, spiked ship with a large dome on top as it turned over while continuing to fire at the planet. It maneuvered itself into position while shooting bolts of orange onto the planet's surface. Everyone from Atlantis to the orbital stations around Lantea, to the Midway Station, to everyone in the Federation, and even the Borg intercepted the signal as the dome on top of the ship now faced the planet and started to peel open.

"Willow," gasped General Carter as she looked at the redhead who had her hands rolled into fists, "that's Anubis' ship.. at least it looks like it."

"Anubis?" asked Janeway.

"The Ancient Egyptian god of death," said Seven as she stared at the screen while accessing the memories of a historian who used to work at a branch of the Federation Archives on one of the many planets assimilated by the Borg.

"Anubis was not a god," said Teal'c as the Starfleet personnel looked at him while Ba'al continued to speak. Willow and the others knew that it was going to be at least twelve hours before any ships could arrive in the Milky Way, and even with Atlantis using the Wormhole Drive, the Tau'ri would need to gather the necessary ships and evacuate all non-essential personnel from the city. While Daniel started to give a history of the Goa'uld, Willow asked him to hold any explanation when Ba'al mentioned that he was going to rule with his queen by his side.

Every Atlantis personnel in Seven's room watched as Ba'al called for his queen, and gasped when they saw her.

"She's dead," said Daniel shaking his head as Janeway and the others turned towards him and then noticed the look of utter shock on the faces of the Tau'ri. Janeway then looked at the woman on the screen who spoke in a gravelly voice saying that the time to worship Ba'al had returned.

"Vala killed her," said a surprised Teal'c.

"I am Qetesh," said the woman with a smile on her face.

"Adria," said Colonel Carter while Willow and Faith stared at the woman in front of them on the screen. Everyone on Atlantis was stunned by the reappearance of both Ba'al and Adria, the former Orici… a literal child of the Ori. She was a woman who was killed by Vala when she nearly killed Willow during their final battle. A battle that ended with Vala shooting a bullet into Adria's head just before she could snap the neck of a bruised and bleeding Willow hundreds of years ago. Willow's final act before losing consciousness to blood loss was to gather a white coloured energy as she held out her shaking hand towards the dead Adria. With enough of the energy gathered in the palm of her hand, Willow fired it and smashed the Orici's head apart so that she could never be a danger to them again.

"We burned her body," said Faith shaking her head, "it can't be possible unless… oh God."

"Asgard cloning technology," whispered Colonel Carter while Harry and Paris looked at her, and then at each other while wondering why everyone was so worried.

"We didn't get all the Ba'al clones," said Willow, "or all of the Goa'uld hideouts. Make sure that the President see's this too, Faith."

Faith nodded her head and pressed her earpiece before telling the officers in Stargate Operations to channel the feed to the Lumeria city-ship.

"And by the end of this day," said Adria as Willow and the others looked on while Faith said that the feed was being transmitted to the President's office, "the Federation will fall. The Goa'uld have returned to claim their kingdom and slaves from the ones to took everything away from us. With the coming fall of the Tau'ri homeworld, the Federation will crumble. All of you will bow down to us."

It was then that there was a split screen that showed the activated Stargate; it was something else which surprised not just Willow and the Tau'ri, but the Starfleet personnel as well when they discovered it was in Starfleet headquarters.

"How is a Stargate active, and…. Oh dear God," said General Carter when humanoids beings in black armour started to step through the gate and immediately began firing on the gathered officers.

**Presidio, Starfleet Headquarters, Earth, a few seconds ago.**

Back on Earth just a few seconds ago, Data and Laforge were investigating the mysterious ring-shaped object while some of the other engineering officers were using tricorders and other instruments on the pool of 'water'. It was then that one of the engineers exclaimed that their readings were telling them that they were looking at the event horizon of an artificial wormhole.

"What?" exclaimed Geordie in disbelief when suddenly there were ripples on the event horizon as humanoids in black armour stepped through and started to attack. Data pulled away Geordie just before a plasma repeater blast passed the spot where he was standing.

"Enterprise, we had a Code Red situation," said Data as he fired at the humanoids with his phaser. The beam just hit the armour, and then crackled on the surface before dissipating. A stunned Geordie then ordered everyone to fall back while being fired upon by plasma fire. At the same time, Data was recommending to Captain Picard that the Academy needed to be placed on lockdown. He also added that their phase two phasers were ineffective in stopping the armoured figured as more security officers fired at the armoured figures to no avail. While the ships in orbit were sending more security teams to the surface with phaser rifles, everyone else watched helplessly as Adria's voice overlapped the images of phaser fire hitting the black armoured beings to no effect. The beings, modified Kull warriors, shot back at the Starfleet personnel while Adria was saying that Earth would fall... that the legacy of the Tau'ri would crash and burn.

**Deep Space Nine, at that same time.**

"Now, people of the Federation, believe me when I say that you will bow before us," said Adria over the image of a pillar of yellow light being fired from the peeled dome and hitting Bajor's capital city. Everyone in Atlantis and the Alpha quadrant watched what was happened with bated breath. But Captain Sisko could feel the horror growing in his very soul of what was about to happen. He could hear the screams of people begging for help from the ether all around him, but he was helpless. The closest Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Vulcan ships were thirty minutes away from Bajor, but by then it would be too late. He looked at the stunned faces of the Bajorans around him, at his fellow crewmates, and wondered what other troubles they had to deal with.

"Emissary!" said one of the Bajorans as she pointed at the screen. Captain Sisko looked at the image, while a tearful Major Kira could only hold on to Constable Odo as she watched the unimaginable unfolding before her eyes. A blast of orange energy travelled down the beam of light from the center of the peeled sections of the dome. Energy crackled around the spherical shaped blast as it travelled down while gaining speed.

"Oh God," said Janeway as she and the others watched from Atlantis when the blast impacted Bajor, followed by blast waves that emanated from the central area of the blast. The Cardassians in all their territories watched, some with happiness at the destruction of the ones who dared to challenge them, and others with horror at the death and destruction occurring on Bajor. Damar himself watched in stunned silence from a rebel hideout at the expanding blast wave causing tsunamis visible from space. He hated the Bajorans and at first never understood the reason they committed acts of terror against the Cardassians during the occupation of Bajor. Now that the Cardassian's themselves were occupied by the Dominion, he finally understood… and as he looked at the destruction of Bajor, all he could think of was the people that would be left alive would be suffering for the rest of their lives.

And he bowed his head at the loss of the Cardassia he had once known.

Back on Deep Space Nine, Captain Sisko stumbled back and caught himself against a console as the Bajorans around him started to pray for guidance, while others silently looked towards him – he was the emissary and he was unable to do anything. He knew that the faith of the Bajorans was shaken to the core. And then there was Major Kira who was on her knees with Odo hugging her as she openly sobbed. Dr. Bashir rushed, still in shock, who a Bajoran who fainted while Ezri, Worf, and O'Brian could only look on at the image with horror at the tsunamis on the surface of the green ocean before making landfall. The Captain looked at the Constable and their eyes met. There was nothing anyone could say - what could anyone say at the sudden near extinction of a people?

"Get… get me Starfleet Command," said the Captain softly, but with anger in his voice, "my office. Get them on the line, now!"

**Atlantis, at the same time.**

"How many people on Bajor?" asked Daniel softly while watching the destruction on the screen.

"A… a little under four billion," said Chakotay, his voice shaking at the tsunamis breaking over land/.

"All those people," said Neelix as Ba'al appeared on screen again.

"You have seen my power," said Ba'al as the screen switched to Starfleet Academy where more Kull warriors were walking through the Gate and killing anyone moving, or being beamed in. They then began to move into the compound while Ba'al said that the military was being targeted and that civilians would be safe as long as they did not fight back, "but no more of your Starfleet will have to die unless you surrender to me. Recognise me as your god. And I will make sure you live productive lives under my rule. Earth will be the jewel of the new Goa'uld empire. Earth and the Federation have only an hour to issue an unconditional surrender or the next planet destroyed will be Vulcan. Or perhaps the Klingon homeworld, or the Romulans. Yes, my dear people... I have been watching all of you. But surrender or not, my next stop will be the home of the Tau'ri. My Kull warriors will stop their attack only when you bow down and surrender."

The screen then went silent while an Ancient satellite caught sight of the massive ship closing it's dome before heading out towards Earth. Willow then stepped forward and cut off the screen, and then stared at her reflection before turning around.

"One final battle then," she whispered.

"Willow," said General Carter, the redhead's idol, "the Stargate's on a thirty-eight-minute cycle."

"What does that mean?" asked Paris.

"A wormhole can only last for thirty-eight minutes because of the massive amount of energy involved," said Willow nodding her head, "which means that once the wormhole disengages, we can send a few teams through directly to Earth from Atlantis."

"But how the heck did the Avenger Three Virus miss this Stargate, and the other one where Ba'al's sending his troops from?" asked General O'Neill.

"I say we ask him before he's punished," said Neelix as the Starfleet personnel looked at him, "I'm sorry, but all of us just witnessed the murder of millions of innocents. He should be punished."

"And he will be," said Janeway before looking at Willow, "under Federation law."

"We can deal with jurisdiction later," said Willow just as Cordelia's solemn looking face appeared on the screen.

"Willow," she said.

"Madam President," said Willow nodding her head after turning around.

"I got the message when I was having a meeting with the chairman of the Pegasus Alliance," said Cordelia, "she said that while she's horrified about what's happened in the Milky Way, and the threat to Earth by Ba'al… the Alliance can't officially declare full-fledged war in the Milky Way. It's an internal affair."

"Cordy," said Faith shaking her head.

"Officially," Cordelia emphasised the word and then continued by saying that people are tired of the nearly forty year war with the Wraith, and they're just looking forward to peace and exploration of the galaxy, "unofficially, though, she'll be alright with sending a small peacekeeping force to Earth. Technically, Earth is still under the Protected Planets Treaty… and there is a Goa'uld ship heading there right now so technically we're trying to keep the peace. Not start another war. At least that's the explanation she'll be giving the Alliance Council at an emergency meeting."

"I know," said Willow.

"I'm sure that the Free Jaffa, the Kobolians, the Asgard, the Furlings will want to send ships for this peacekeeping mission," said Cordelia, "the Alliance chairman will also allow humanitarian aid to the planet that was attacked. He'll ask the Orban and the Pangaran's to send three of their hospital ships with an escort of Avalon class ships."

"We have a deadline, Madam President," said Janeway, "Ba'al has given Earth and the Federation an hour to surrender. After what we've just seen…. I don't know what the Federation Council will do."

"We must leave as soon as the Stargate is deactivated," said Teal'c, "I suggest several SG teams with anti-Kull armour ammunition, as well as Slayer squads equipped with full tactical weaponry."

"Slayers?" asked Janeway.

"Long story," said Faith.

"Willow," said Cordelia, "I'll contact Thor and the others. I'll have them send ships over to Lantea in twenty minutes."

"President Chase," said General Carter, "it's very likely that the only way to make it to Earth in time would be to use the Wormhole drive. And with the controls in the Death Valley outpost destroyed, they needed the weapons on the base against a possibly Ori engineered ship."

"Willow?" asked Cordelia at the redhead while B'Ellana was asking about the wormhole drive, and Harry was asking about the Ori while Tuvok arched an eyebrow and turned to Teal'c. Before any of the Atlantis personnel could answer B'Ellana, and before any questions in the Starfleet officers' minds could be asked about the Ori; Cordelia asked Willow if she was planning to have the Tau'ri make their presence known again in the Milky Way on a permanent basis.

"Pegasus is our home now, Madam President," said Willow as Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief, "we'll be coming home after the 'peacekeeping' mission is completed. Atlantis will return to Lantea."

"I'll inform congress of what's going on, General," said Cordelia, "but I know what they'll say; go for it, Willow. Get your people ready."

"Understood," said Willow nodding her head before the screen turned off. It was then that they heard the Doctor cough before he said, "excuse me."

"There's something that's been bothering me," said the Doctor as he looked at the Tau'ri personnel who turned towards him, "Ba'al said that he was going to the Tau'ri homeworld. But if the Tau'ri homeworld is Avalon, then why was a Stargate sent to Earth? Why is Earth being attacked? Why are we discussing Earth unless…"

"It can't be," said Janeway as she looked at Willow, Cordelia, and then at a shrugging General O'Neill while Faith was looking back at them with an eyebrow raised. At the same time, Teal'c was simply standing stoically, with Cassie by his side, while saying that he was from Chulak.

"Avalon is the name used by a race long ago for the Milky Way," said Willow as Janeway and the other Starfleet officers started to study the people around them, "we'll talk to you guys about everything later. What you do have to know is that we're not from any planet called Avalon."

"We're from Terra, we're from Earth," said Daniel as Janeway started to chuckle before asking then to stop kidding around.

"Captain," said a surprised Seven as she looked at the Tau'ri, "their body language and facial markers are telling me that they speak the truth. They are from Earth."

"No, it's not possible," said Janeway.

"I was born in Sunnydale, California, in 1985," said Willow as the Voyager senior officers stopped talking among themselves, "President Chase was also born in Sunnydale. In fact, we went to Sunnydale High together."

"South Boston here," said Faith.

"Minnesota," said General O'Neill.

"Colorado Springs," added General Carter to Neelix and Harry's surprise.

"Then Dr. Fraiser?" asked the Doctor as he looked at Cassie.

"A planet called Hanka, twenty-two thousand light years from Earth."

"Oh," said a surprised Doctor who expected Cassie to be from Earth as well.

"The book you read?" said Daniel looking at a surprised Chakotay, "you were right. I wrote it… it ruined my career, but it opened another door…. I was introduced to the Stargate Program."

"So it's true?" asked Chakotay, "but…."

"We can explain things later," said Willow, "right now, we have a job to do. Captain Janeway, Atlantis was never on Avalon, it was always in the Pegasus galaxy. It was a beacon of hope during the first Lantean-Wraith war, it was a beacon of hope for the Alliance-Wraith war, and it's going to be the same for this final battle."

"In.. in that case," said Janeway who was still in disbelief. However, she knew that her homeworld was under attack… the Federation way of life was under attack, and there was no way she was going to be standing by on the side-lines. Everything else could be discussed later, if they survived, "we're ready."

TBC.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Nairobi, Kenya, 2031.**

It was the final day of the exodus from Earth.

The day that the Tau'ri would be leaving Earth for good. With the Talon, the final Tau'ri ship in orbit over Earth waiting for her Commanding Officer, the exodus was one ship away from being complete. The SGC, Area 51, the classified Homeworld Command Bunker under the Pentagon, the BPRI Compound had been completely destroyed with all the computers, data, and various other systems wiped out. An Asgard-Tau'ri virus was introduced into the World Wide Web to wipe out any information on the Stargate Program and the people associated with it, even from the most secure computers. As for any paper trails, it was widely believed that any evidence was destroyed during the nuclear strike and the resulting war between Augments and humans, followed by those who were genetically engineered and those who were 'normal' humans.

Everything that needed to be done to ensure that their fellow Terrans could move on, without the sin of what the Tau'ri had done to save the galaxy weighing down on them, had been done. The final duty was a request to an old friend of the Talon's commander, Colonel Willow Rosenberg.

It was early in the morning when Willow, Buffy, Faith, Tara, Amy Madison, and General Landry were beamed down close to a tree that was white in colour, the leaves having already fallen from the branches which swayed in the light breeze that swept through the plains. The tall grass around them swayed in concert with the breeze as Willow and the others walked to the tree where a male lion was lying down, it's head resting on its front paws before sensing the five humans.

The Slayers and Willow remembered this moment; it had been several years since they had first met the one they were about to meet. The first time the Slayers had met this person was during a test to measure how worthy they were of using her power. With the Earth being taken care off in terms of it's ignorance to the goings-on in a newly peaceful galaxy; the next step had been to take care of the supernatural. The Covens around the planet, of which most witches and seers opted to remain on Earth, swore to be the guardians of the Hellmouths. They had already completed a ritual that would essentially slow down the release of dark mystical energy from the Hellmouths, responsible for attracting demons and their ilk, to a trickle.

Reducing the chances of attacks by all forms of demons.

Approaching the tree, the group stopped as the lion lifted itself on all fours and walked towards them. It stopped a few yards away and then gave what seemed like a small bow of its head before turning to the left and walking away. Once it disappeared into the swaying grass, the group walked over to the tree where Willow found a plaque on the ground; the plaque was a piece of naquada, etched with symbols in the language of the Ancients. It was laid there on the ground by Willow herself when she was Athena thousands of years ago as the burial place of a good friend.

Just as all those years ago, Buffy and Faith crouched down and closed their eyes while touching the plaque. It then started to glow red while a heavy cold breeze came out of nowhere. Reality seemed to shift around them as the tree became darker; the bark turning brown and the leaves starting to sprout out from the branches. A few meters away, a small rectangular metallic structure appeared out of nowhere and a small campfire raged several feet from the entrance while a Lantean Gateship lay dormant near the structure.

Willow breathed in the fresh air as she looked at the home she made in the plains of Nairobi ten thousand years ago, after her people returned to Earth from Atlantis after their defeat at the hands of the Wraith. She and several others made Nairobi their home for a few years. They left due to the high heat in the day, and cold at night, a few years later until only Athena was left alone.

As Willow recalled her memories, she looked at the structure and then at her friends while Faith and Buffy stood up and looked around searching for the one they came to meet. It was Tara who said that she felt as if they were being watched, and the redhead agreed before turning around to stare into the eyes of a young, dark-skinned, woman wearing rags all over her body. Her hands and feet were attached to the ends of menaces, and her arms were by her side while two sharp weapons lay on her back. Her face had white paint, and her hair was dry as it fell around her face to her lower back. Willow could never forget her… could never forget the little girl the woman had once been when they first met ten thousand years ago.

She was the woman who the Furling priests known as the Shadow Men kidnapped even after Willow had given them thirty thousand living weapons to fight the vampires and demons that already existed and were threatening humanity. The woman in front of her was the being prophesized to be a powerful warrior that would fight the evil beings that threatened humanity. But Athena was having none of that, and in exchange for the living weapons, she demanded that the Shadow Men let the girl be free to live her life. However, five years later, after giving the Shadow Men the last batch of clones, Athena was betrayed.

For the past five years, unknown to Athena, the Shadow Men used a demon to extract the life force of the living weapons so that it would grow more powerful. Eventually, all of the clones were dead; their life force and abilities absorbed into what would be later known as the Shadow Demon. During a mission to rescue the girl, Athena was taken captive and made to watch the last batch of the living weapons die a gruesome death, after which the Shadow Men thanked her for saving the world. She then watched with horror as the girl, who was chained to the Earth, begged her for help.

But Athena couldn't do anything since she was chained to the wall and forced to watch without interrupting the ritual. Athena, who was still in her physical body, watched helplessly as the Shadow Demon was released from its cage and struck the girl. She remembered the screams of anguish from the girl as the demon took her body and her soul… imbuing her with its own gifts… as well as the gifts from the living weapons.

Back in the present day, Willow took a step forward toward the girl who grew up. The very same girl for whom Athena created two weapons before she was exiled from Earth for using her cloning research, deemed illegal in the eyes of the Atlantis Council on Earth. The Scythes were given to the girl to help in the war against the demons… and she fought with those weapons until the say she died. The girl won the final massive battle- one girl alone against a horde of demons and the last Old One. Athena rushed to her side after having a nightmare while she was meditating in Kheb, where she was training in seclusion with Oma Desala for her ascension. The young woman died in Athena's arms from a fatal wound, and her death changed the future of good versus evil in the supernatural realm.

The girl, Sineya, became known as the First Slayer. And her death formed the Slayer Lines. Athena, joined by the ascended Hera who arrived to fulfil her promise of ascension to Sineya, witnessed the formation of the lines after Sineya's refusal to ascend following her death. They were lines of mystical energy that shot out of Sineya's body and permeated the Earth. The power of the planet itself powered the Lines so that when one Slayer died, the next one could be activated; and that way Sineya would be able to guide the next generation of Slayers.

And now, Willow had a favour to ask the young woman she used to call her daughter.

"Athena… mother," said Sineya as Willow hugged her tightly, "it has been too long."

"It has, my daughter," replied Willow before introducing General Landry and Amy. Sineya nodded her head before welcoming Buffy, Faith, and Tara back. Sineya then turned to Willow who took in a deep breath before saying, "we are leaving this world, Sineya."

"I know, Athena," Sineya replied.

"And we won't be returning again," added the General. Buffy then said that two Slayers and a handful of the BPRI personnel, as well as a handful of witches, belong to six covens, including the one in Devon, chose to stay and defend the world from demons. With most of the demons' dead after the initial nuclear strikes, there were still those who needed to be kept in check by the Slayers. So, Tara and several witches from all the covens on Earth used their powers to tap into the magic flowing through Earth's lay-lines and redirected those energies to blocking the very same energy that emanated from the Hellmouths; especially the oldest one in Sunnydale.

Willow then introduced Amy Madison who, after Tara leaves Earth, would be the most powerful witch on the planet. And she, along with the other witches, seers, watchers, and people knowledgeable with the supernatural, would act as guides for any new Slayers who would be activated after the current ones die.

And it was to find a way of activating new Slayers on another planet that Willow and the others arrived in Nairobi.

"Sineya," General Landry said as he stood next to Buffy, "the place where we're going is full of monsters called the Wraith."

"Yes," Sineya said nodding her head, "Mother has spoken of the Wraith.

"We need a way to activate Slayers there, Sineya," said Buffy, "what we've got planned is to place a few planets, including our new homeworld, into a time dilation bubble."

"Time in the bubble moves faster than the rest of the universe," Willow explained, "so by the time we're out of the bubble, we'll have a force enough to battle the Wraith on an equal playing field. But we want Slayers to be our first strike against the Wraith, so we need to activate an army."

Sineya nodded her head and held out the palm of her hand upwards. Soon, a red light started to glow on top of her hand and it slowly coalesced into a ruby-red crystal. She handed the crystal to Willow and asked her to plant it in their new world. She told Willow that the crystal contained a portion of her essence, and a small part was only needed to activate a new Slayer. Sineya reminded Willow and the others that since the crystal contained a small part of her essence, the lines formed on Lantea would need ten years to strengthen.

"And then the same rules of activation apply," said Sineya as she looked at her successors, Buffy and Faith, "if you wish to artificially activate a Potential, they will have to pass my tests. And I will deem them either worthy or unworthy to wield my gifts. If more than one Slayer is to be activated, then the time to wait before the next activation is twice the number of Slayers activated."

"So two Slayers activated means we need to wait four years before trying again," Tara nodded her head while recalling the three Slayers they had just activated a year ago.

"Yes," said Sineya, "they will be full Slayers; with all the power as those in this world. They will help in the coming war."

"Thank you, Sineya," said Amy, "I hope we see each other again."

"We will not, Amy Madison," Sineya said, "not like this. However, I will be within every Slayer who is activated… including those who are activated through death in battle. Farewell."

"Goodbye, Sineya," said Willow as she hugged the young woman again while General Landry nodded his head, "take care of your successors, as you always have."

"Be safe, mother," whispered Sineya before everything changed and the group found themselves facing the white tree, the only difference being the red crystal in Tara's hand. Willow breathed in and out deeply before she walked towards the tree and crouched down. She then leaned forward and brushed her fingers along the etchings on the plaque.

"Here lies Sineya of the Plains," Willow whispered, "may her will, strength, and power be forever."

Willow then bowed her head in respect before getting up and heading back towards the group. After saying goodbye to Amy who then used her magic to teleport herself to the Devon coven, the others were beamed up to the Talon. The ship, the last Tau'ri vessel to leave Earth orbit following the massive Asgard Colony ships, the very same ships they used to transport their own people when they were losing the war against the replicators several years ago.

Back then, the ships were in the void outside the Ida galaxy while Thor called on SG-1 to help them activate a time-dilation device. But, once the replicators were defeated, the ships were mothballed and put back into action a year after the nuclear attacks to relocate millions of people from Earth and the SGC's allied worlds, including those who voluntarily moved from the Asgards Protected Planets.

A day after the Talon exited hyperspace over their new homeworld, the red crystal dubbed by Buffy as the 'Slayer Seed' was planted in the smallest continent on Lantea. Willow, Faith, Buffy, Tara, Giles, Xander, and Dawn watched as red light shot out of the crystal and into the sky of Lantea, followed by rays of light that emanated from it and shot around the planet. The light could be seen from the space stations as well as from Atlantis given that one of the rays of red light passed directly overhead. The lights soon faded, and it was then that Tara told Willow she could feel the energy flowing through Lantea itself. That the planet's own life force was powering the new Slayer Lines.

It would be eleven years later that the first three Lantean Slayers were activated. And their training began. Eventually, the Slayers were crucial in the war against the Wraith, just as their progenitors were supposed to be. They were key.

And now, in the final war against the Goa'uld and the Ori, they were going to be the first strike teams again.

**Ba'al's mothership, Now.**

Legate Broca couldn't believe it as he stared at the holographic HUD showing the destruction on Bajor. He and the other Cardassians, Breen, Weyoun, the Jem'Hadar guards, and the quietly fuming Changeling watched as the numbers on the side of the holographic planet, with many areas in red, continued to go up.

"More than a billion deaths," said Weyoun as the numbers continued going up; the advanced Ori sensors on the ship feeding them live data from the surface.

"Lord Ba'al, I…."

"Show reverance to your god," said Ba'al as Qetesh looked over her shoulder at the Cardassians staring at him and then at each other. They then turn to him and went down on one knee while she felt the quiet rage coming off the Changeling. Smiling as she looked away, Qetesh looked out at the stars over Bajor as the Cardassians made an oath of loyalty to Ba'al.

"All we ask, Lord Ba'al," said Broca with his head towards the floor, "that we, the Cardassian people, retake what was once ours. The Bajoran Colonies, and the one symbol of their rebellion against us… one which my own people built with our own blood and sweat; Terok Nor."

"Then it is yours," said Ba'al in his gravel sounding voice before telling the Cardassians to rise to their feet, "I have been watching the Cardassians, and the Breen for a long time. And then I captured a diseased Changeling and…"

"How?" asked the female Changeling furiously, "where is…"

"It is dead," said Qetesh as she looked out at the stars, and then continued to speak while looking over her shoulder at the Changeling whose skin seemed to be peeling off her body, "and if you do not temper your anger, Changeling, I will make certain the same applies to you and your people."

"Now, now, my queen," said Ba'al as he and Qetesh stared at each other before she turned back towards the star field, and Ba'al towards the female Changeling, "I do apologise for the death of your kin. However, it was a necessary consequence of examining a way to save the lives of your people."

Ba'al then turned to his First Prime and had him bring the antidote. The man bowed his head before rushing off down one door. In the meantime, the Breen said that they would like to be on their way to conquering Vulcan and Romulus, and their respective colonies. The group then looked at the Changeling who then reluctantly said that she would only acquiesce to Ba'al if his "so called cure" worked.

"I assure you it would work." Ba'al and the others then turned upon the First Prime returning with a small golden chest in his hands. He went down on one knee in front of Ba'al and then held out his arms, with the small chest on the palms of his hands. Ba'al reached down and opened the chest's cover before taking out a brown spherical object and then walking towards the Changeling. "This contains self-replicating nanites that were built using the technology of a race long dead. It's only programmed to administer the cure that would destroy the virus infecting your body at the sub-atomic level. Then once you are cured, you only have to join with the rest of your people to spread the cure in the self-replicating nanites."

"How is it administered?" asked the Founder.

"You can either absorb it or swallow it. Either way, the nanites would be absorbed into your form."

The Changeling knew she had no choice. Her people were dying- she was dying, and even with their level of technology.. they had yet to find a cure. She popped the pill into her mouth knowing full well it was a risk, but a risk that needed to be taken. She wanted to be healthy, she wanted her people to survive. And not for just finishing the job against the Federation and its allies… she also wanted to make Ba'al pay for this humiliation. And she wanted to make the Cardassians and the Breen pay for this insult.

This betrayal by the Breen and the Cardassians just cemented her hatred of the solids. It cemented her reasons for the Dominion invading, and then taking over the Alpha Quadrant. She was going to steal Ba'al's technology so that the Dominion could upgrade their ships. Once the Alpha Quadrant was subjugated, then they could prepare to defeat the Tau'ri who she believed were no doubt coming to protect their homeworld; Earth.

It was that disbelief in Earth being the Tau'ri homeworld that was pushed to the back of her mind as the female changing gasped before her shin started to liquefy. Everyone watched the Changeling liquefy for a few seconds before reforming herself as a solid being with her skin, which had earlier appeared to be peeling off her body, unblemished. She then looked at her arms and body in surprise before looking up at Ba'al.

"Now," said Ba'al, "you want to save the rest of your people?"

"Yes," said the Changeling who had more hate than ever in her heart while staring at Ba'al. She knew that her humiliation was complete and that the Dominion wouldn't be seen the same way again by the Breen and the Cardassians. Ba'al' smiled as the ship, instead of heading for Earth, stopped over Cardassia Prime where Legate Broca said that he would be rerouting some ships to take back Terok Nor and other Bajoran colonies. Ba'al smiled before saying that he would have his ships join them. He explained that the ships were taken from a group called the Lucien Alliance centuries ago after they were weakened by the Tau'ri before they suddenly withdrew from the galaxy. The ships were stolen with the Alliance members turned to serve both him and Qetesh over a hundred years ago. And their ships were upgraded with advanced weapons and shielding that would be able to take on any resistance. He told Broca that two ships will meet them in orbit, and then had him give the coordinates for the station to the commander of the Hatak class ships that were on the way to Cardassia. They would then head to the station, making its recapture easy, and the Cardassians could do what they wanted.

"Then the honour will be yours, Broca. If the Tau'ri arrive, they will be surprised at the strength of the fleet in my command," said Ba'al as the Cardassians bowed their heads and were then beamed away. Ba'al then turned to the Breen general who said that they would make their own way, unlike the Cardassians. The General said, in a screeching voice, that the Breen were itching for battle and didn't require any help.

"There will be a small force of five Ha'tak class ships in case you encounter more resistance than you can handle," said Ba'al as the Breen just stared, "after all, what kind of a god would I be if I didn't prepare for any eventuality."

The Breen then nodded his head before being beamed out of the ship. Ba'al's vessel then entered hyperspace and exited a few minutes later over the Changeling's homeworld. the Changeling, Ba'al, Adria, the Jem'Hadar, and Weyoun beamed down to the surface on a rocky outcropping. He nodded at the Changeling who then walked into the dark brown rippling liquid that surrounded them. It was the Great Link - the Changelings in their natural form sharing their thoughts, memories, and experiences as one. The female Changeling melted into the Great Link which then quickly started to turn a light brown while the Jem'Hadar and Weyoun looked on in surprise.

"It's working," exclaimed Weyoun when before long, two shapes walked out of the light brown liquid and took form of the Female Changeling, and one other who was male. Weyoun then bowed his head in reverence as did the Jem'Hadar while Ba'al and Adria looked on.

"Now," said Ba'al smugly, "on your knees."

"Thank you, for your help, Ba'al," smirked the female changeling as she took on his form, while the male took on Adria's form. "If you knew us Changelings as you have said, then you would have realised that we hate solids… and we will not share power. After you and your queen are dead, we will kill your crew and steal your ships. We will…."

"Do nothing," said Adria as she flicked her hand and the necks of the Jem'Hadar, who had already made their way behind her and Ba'al, cracked with a sickening sound. The Changelings looked on stunned as Weyoun was mentally slammed against the side of a large rock while Ba'al simply chuckled. The Female Changeling was about to ask what was so funny when she felt her body becoming much heavier and harder. She looked down at herself and watched as her feet started to solidifying into a dark coloured mineral. It was then she mentally heard screams through the Great Link. She turned her head, as did the male Changeling who had taken Adria's form, and watched the entire sea of brown solidifying.

"The Goa'uld make sure that they have no rivals," said Ba'al as the female Changeling turned back towards him and Adria, "no world under Goa'uld control would be allowed to have such advanced technology."

"But…."

"You would have made such perfect slaves," said Ba'al with a sigh, "your people were a threat. There was no way to know how long your war would have lasted, and even if by some chance the Federation won… they would have sought a peace treaty and let your people escape responsibility. We were willing to come out of hiding when the fighting had stopped and then conquered all of you at your weakest points, but with the appearance of the Tau'ri… we changed our plans. We were already strong enough while the Tau'ri were in hiding somewhere in the galaxy… and now… now they have come out and we will show them how far we have come. And how woefully unprepared they are for what is yet to come. With the power of the Ori under our control, this entire galaxy will be mine."

"We would have let you live a while longer if you had not betrayed us," said Qetesh as the two Changelings opened their eyes wide in shock at what was happening, "your bodies are being turned to solid naquadria on a sub-atomic level. The nanites were programmed to change you at the sub-atomic level in the event you betrayed us by taking our forms… just as I would die if my powers were used against my husband."

"I… you.. you would… kill….?" The Female struggled to speak as her head was solidifying.

"The Goa'uld have exterminated worlds for less," said Ba'al, "you should have asked the Tau'ri what we did to the people of Abydos, or to the world known as Hanka. Or… but does it matter? Once the Cardassians and Breen have finished conquering their worlds, our ships will destroy them and take over what they have captured. The people will then bow down to us as gods."

"I…."

"Shhhh," said Qetesh as the Changeling's solidified into greyish statues.

"No! Founder!" exclaimed Weyoun as he rushed to the solidified Changelings and fell to his knees while holding to their legs, "no… please, no.. you are gods. Fight this… please.. fight this!"

Ba'al and Qetesh then beamed out to the awaiting ship. He then ordered his First Prime to open fire on the planet. Multiple bursts of plasma from the Ori enhanced weaponry impacted the surface which then interacted with the still spreading naquadria… forming a deadly, and unstable, chain reaction. The ship escaped into hyperspace just as the massive explosion look Weyoun's life first, and then the lives of all the other Changelings. Even those that hadn't been solidified yet as the planet was torn apart.

**Deep Space Nine, Alpha Quadrant, at that same time.**

The Midway station listening post detected the massive explosion; the naquadria destroyed not just the planet itself. The intense subspace shockwaves affected several planets in the system, including the ones where Jem'Hadar cloning facilities were located in the Gamma Quadrant. The Changelings were made extinct in one stroke. And Odo felt it all the way from Deep Space Nine as he let Major Kira, who had been crying on his shoulder, go before stumbling back onto a console, and then falling on his knees. He looked at the floor in confusion as a pain went through his body when he realised that that the screams he heard in his mind before they were suddenly silenced, were the screams of his people in the Great Link.

He felt their deaths from all the way in Deep Space Nine.

"Constable?" asked a worried Captain Sisko as Dax and a tearful Kira ran to him while he was gasping on the floor of the operations center.

"They... they're gone," he whispered as he looked up at the Captain, "the.. the Founders. I.. I can't feel them.. I… heard screams and then… then silence. I can't feel the pull towards the Great Link anymore."

"Odo?" asked Major Kira sniffling before she continued, "are.. are you…."

"My people are gone," Odo whispered in shock, "I.. I may be the last Changeling."

"Security," said a deceptively calm Garak, the resident Cardassian tailor who had a shop in the Promenade of the station, through the comm-badges as he stared at furious Bajorans outside his shop. He had seen the destruction of Bajor a few seconds ago, and then saw the fear and sorrow in the eyes of the Bajorans around him turn to hate and rage when they realised he was among them. He hurriedly retreated to his shop, locked the doors and stepped back while the crowd pounded the doors with their fists- all of them howling for his blood. He stared at them with eyes wide open while continuing, "I need some assistance. I do believe that some of the Bajorans down here wish to kill me."

"Let him die," hissed Kira as she hugged Odo tightly while looking up at Captain Sisko, "let him die."

"I will not have this station descend into chaos," said the Captain before turning to Worf and ordering him to take a detachment of security personnel to the Promenade to protect Garak, and to restore some semblance of order. He knew that a lot of people died this day, and he didn't want any more bloodshed.

"Captain?" said O'Brien as he looked at the console in front of him, and then back up at the Captain with his eyes wide open, "we have forty-one Cardassian ships coming at us at warp. All of them are Galor Class."

"How long before they get here?" asked the Captain as Dax ran to O'Brien's console while Bashir moved to another Bajoran who just sat on the ground in shock.

"Forty minutes," said Dax.

"The ships that were heading for the station," said the Captain referring to the Federation ships that were rerouted to Bajor after the attack, "get them back here. I'll contact Starfleet Command and inform them of the latest situation."

"My people are gone," whispered Odo shaking his head-on Kira's shoulder, "my people are gone."

"Odo," whispered the Captain as he crouched down next to him while Dax was contacting Starfleet and the Federation vessels, "we'll find out what happened to your people. But right now we have a bigger problem. A Cardassian fleet is on the way, and we need to plan a defence while evacuating as many Bajorans as possible. Please, I need your help." The Captain then turned to the Major who was looking back at him. He wiped the tears that were flowing down her cheeks and apologised, "I'm sorry, Major Kira. As Emissary, it is my duty to protect Bajor. I may have failed in one aspect, but I will not fail in protecting the Bajorans on this station. I will protect this station, and I will protect the Bajorans here by making sure that they're evacuated, and…."

"Benjamin," said Dax as the viewscreen activated. Everyone looked up to see two tears in space as two ships; pyramid shaped with a black hull around it shot out and stopped. Dax looked at the console and then back at the Captain before saying that the ships didn't correspond to any race that they were aware of. It was then that another officer said that the ships were charging weapons and raising shields.

"Power levels are off the scale," said another officer.

"I'm reading plasma weaponry all over the hull, unknown type of shielding technology, an unknown power source, no warp drive and no deflector dish," said O'Brien, "and no visible engines."

"Arm all photon torpedoes, charge phasers, and activate the shield," commanded the Captain who was trying to project calm, instead of confusion, at what he was hearing from the Chief. He then looked down and told Kira that he needed her and Odo by his side. "Please."

The Major and Oda then slowly stood up and nodded their heads.

"Major," said the Captain, "I know this is difficult. But you are the Bajoran everyone here will listen to. I need calm on this station, and I need you and Odo to help me."

"I… I'll address the Bajorans through the Station's comm system," the Major Whispered before Odo said that he'll head to Worf's location and stop any fighting or looting that may occur. The Captain nodded his head, after which the Major headed to a console and Odo to a lift at the port side of the room. The Captain knew that there would be time to mourn later, especially after confirming what Odo revealed to them about the Changelings. But for now, he needed their minds distracted from their respective tragedies. He needed them to be kept busy... and the only way was to protect the Station and its people.

"Hail the ships," said the Captain. Ezri nodded her head before the Captain spoke, "this is Captain Benjamin Sisko, commander of Deep Space Nine. Identify yourself."

"If anyone attempts to leave the station," said a male voice via audio only, "we will shoot it down. This station belongs to our god, Ba'al. And he will enforce his will through the Cardassians. It will be up to them to decide your fates."

"How long before the Federation ships get here," asked the Captain turning to Dax while Major Kira was doing her best to keep everyone on the station calm and collected.

"Twenty minutes," said Dax looking at the scans. Then there was a beep and she focused on another screen on the same console before looking up at the Captain, "I'm getting a communique from Starfleet; the Andorians have also mobilised. There are forty ships being sent to Earth, and forty being sent here. Sixty Starfleet vessels are heading for Earth with the Enterprise carrying the flag. And… oh no…"

"Our subspace communications are being blocked," said O'Brian, "we're cut off from the Federation."

"I want all Bajorans and civilians at the docking ports. We can't risk anyone leaving now in the event that these ships will fire on them," commanded the Captain before saying that with the aid of the Andorian ships, he would be able to use the eventual battle between the Andorian-Federation alliance ships and these two alien vessels to evacuate as many Bajorans and civilians as possible, "all Starfleet and Bajoran security personnel stand ready to defend the station. I want all phasers and torpedoes to fire at the Cardassian ships once they enter firing range. And hail these alien ships again. I want to try and negotiate an escape route for the civilians on the station right now."

"No luck, Captain," said O'Brien, "I can't cut through the interference."

"Keep on trying," said the captain as he looked at the two Pyramid ships, "keep on trying. At least find me a way to get through to the Federation ships once they're in close proximity."

"Working on it, sir," said O'Brien.

**Conference Room, Atlantis.**

Willow and the rest of the former SG-1 rushed up the central stairs followed by Captain Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok while the other Starfleet officers were sent back to Voyager to prepare for battle. The Captain knew that everyone, including herself, had numerous questions for these people following the revelation that they were from Earth… including the fact that Willow mentioned she was born in the late twentieth century. However, all of that had to be put on the back burner as they rushed up the stairs while the Captain, Tuvok, and Chakotay stared at the active Stargate.

"Report!" ordered Willow at the officers and technicians at Stargate Operations.

"Midway Station reports a massive planetary scale naquadria explosion," said one of the officers standing behind the console. Everyone stopped and stared at each other in shock before Willow barked an order at the technician.

"I want all readings sent to the Conference room and…."

"Ma'am," said another officer "you're receiving a message from the chairperson of the Alliance Council."

"To the Conference room," said General O'Neill.

"Issue evacuation orders for the City… I want all non-essential personnel beamed out of here in an hour."

"Ma'am?" asked another technician.

"You heard me," Willow said, "one hour. We leave five minutes later… any later than that? Then the Goa'uld and the Ori will have a foothold in the Milky Way by taking Earth. Contact General Jon O'Neill, I want a full task force armed and prepared to leave within an hour."

The officers in the Operations center nodded their heads before Colonel Carter told them to warm up the Star Drive and the Wormhole Drive, "have Dr. Mackay meet us at the Conference room with Dr. Hailey. And contact Vala… tell her we need to talk. Transfer that call to the conference room too."

"Understood," said the officer while another one activated an alarm that sounded throughout the city. Willow then led the others into the conference room before the lourved doors closed shut and the lights inside on the walls turned to a dim orange. General Carter pressed a button on the wall and the conference table was lowered into the floor while then moved over for a circular pedestal to rise in its place. The room dimmed slightly as a hologram of the Milky Way appeared in front of them. Janeway was staring at the technology in front of her and more questions swam in her mind as she glanced over at Willow who turned to a screen on the wall that activated to show a woman with yellow eyes and a pale complexion looking back at them.

"Chairperson Alanna," said Willow nodding her head at the Enkaran woman.

"General," she replied with a serious look on her face, "President Chase and I have already conducted an emergency meeting of the Alliance Council."

"That was fast," said Daniel.

"We experienced slavery under the Goa'uld and oppression under the Ori," said the chairwoman as Janeway looked on, "and we know what the Tau'ri have sacrificed. While I felt it right that forty years of war would have made people tired of fighting. And enough for a simple 'peacekeeping mission' to the Milky Way, the Alliance disagrees."

"Ma'am?" asked Willow.

"It was a unanimous decision," said the Chairwoman, "and the fastest. A total of five minutes since we know the threat represented by both powers. The Alliance has authorised war on the Goa'uld and Ori. General, the Tau'ri have taken the lead on the Goa'uld and the Ori before, and we're asking the same again. Free the Milky Way from the Ori and Goa'uld threat. But the on-going war between the Federation and their enemies are not our concern."

"Madam Chairperson," said Willow before she turned to looked at Janeway who had several questions in her mind. The redhead then turned to the screen once again and said, "we have Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager with us. And she has questions."

"Captain?" asked Alanna, "you have questions?"

"Yes," said Janeway as another screen behind them popped up to show Vala's face. Willow turned to Vala while Janeway asked Alanna if there was any way at all to negotiate a truce with the Goa'uld and Ori. With General O'Neill, next to her as she received an answer from Alanna; Willow, General Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel were telling the stunned Vala, whose hair already had wisps of grey, about Adria's rebirth and possession by Qetesh.

"I'm heading back to Atlantis," Vala who was on the planet in the Triangulum galaxy designated as T7Y-879, "give me…"

"Vala," Willow interrupted her. "We need you and General Mitchell there to secure the treaty with the Hotahth. We'll bring Adria back alive this time and…"

"Cam can handle the rest of the way with our diplomats," Vala interrupted Willow, "she's not all Ori, Willow. You know that. She's part human. Ba'al's torturing her by letting Qetesh control her."

"Vala," said Daniel, "you have to.."

"I'm coming to Atlantis in five minutes," said Vala in a stern voice, "Mitchell out." The screen then turned off while Willow then tapped on her earpiece and told one of the Operations officers to expect Vala coming in from Triangulum.

"Triangulum?" asked Chakotay turning towards them while the silent Tuvok simply arched his left eyebrow upwards, "as in the galaxy?"

"Yes," General Carter answered, "we have already colonised two worlds in Triangulum, and three in Andromeda."

"Fascinating," answered Tuvok just as Alana finished telling Janeway the danger presented by the Goa'uld and the Ori. Willow could sense that the Captain was unhappy with some of the answers, but there was nothing she could do as Tuvok mentioned that battling Ba'al would logically lead to fighting the Cardassians and the Breen; as well as their allies.

"I'm sure General Rosenberg has a plan," said Alanna, "General, the Alliance will authorise mobilisation of a hundred and fifty Alliance ships. Our technology would be at the same level as the Ori, so we should be able to match them shield for shield, and weapon to weapon. Your addition mission is to question Adria and Ba'al so that we can discover any additional planets they have conquered. The Alliance fleet will be under your command; and I... like the others in the Alliance, do not want to hear from the Goa''uld and the Ori ever again. I leave how you accomplish this mission to your discretion. Use whatever weapons you feel is adequate."

"Understood, ma'am," said Willow before the screen went dark and on another screen appeared Jonathan and Andrew from the Midway Station. Andrew said that they were already linked to Atlantis. Willow nodded her head and then pressed on a section of the holographic image of the Milky Way. The view zoomed to showing Earth with all the ships, led by the Enterprise, holding station over the planet. A screen to the left of the redhead then turned on and Jonathan said that they were watching a live data feed to Atlantis. The hologram in front of them zoomed out to showing two red dots, one was Earth and the other was where, unknown to everyone in Atlantis, used to be the Changeling's homeworld.

"Johnathan," said Willow, "where's Ba'al's ship?"

There was another red dot that appeared and the image zoomed in to show the massive ship in orbit of a planet with twenty other Ha'tak class ships and Al'kesh transports numbering up to thirty surrounding the planet. There were other orange and black ships with purple accents in orbit of the planet which Tuvok calmly said was Cardassia. Tuvok was looking at the symbols over Cardassia, and then at the symbols over Earth before asking about their significance.

"Those are Stargate addresses," said General Carter, "but they're kind of useless now since we disabled the entire network, and buried a lot of the Stargates while beaming out others and placing them in the void between galaxies."

"Then the Stargate that vanished from Vulcan in the year 2029 was the responsivity of the Tau'ri?" asked Tuvok.

"The Asgard," said Willow, "their ships are much faster than ours. A few of them helped us remove the Stargates before heading off to their home galaxy to rebuild their civilisation."

"Another galaxy?" asked Janeway while Chakotay looked to Daniel and asked why the Stargates were deactivated and removed.

"So that Earth wouldn't be burdened by what we had to do to keep it safe," said General O'Neill as Janeway looked at him, "the Stargate Program, Stargate Command, Homeworld Security, the BPRI… all these organisations weren't revealed to the public because…. Well, politics happened."

"And then there was the nuclear war that preceded World War Three," said General Carter who looked away, "we lost a lot of people."

"You were there?" asked Chakotay surprised.

"When we detected the launch of the missiles," said General O'Neill, "we did everything to stop them. But the Trust…"

"I don't understand. The Trust?" asked Janeway.

"We can talk about all this later," said Willow as she looked at the image in front of her, and then at General Carter who she could feel was getting upset. Even after all this time, even after having five children with General O'Neill; Willow felt General Carter's heart break remembering the day Debbie, her first daughter, died in the blast that levelled Colorado Springs. Willow then turned to Janeway and asked which other planets were in direct danger.

"Vulcan," said Janeway pointing at a planet which was then highlighted in blue to indicate it didn't have an opposing force orbiting it, "Tellar, Andoria… those are the founding planets of the Federation. If those four falls, then the Federation will crack. But Earth is the glue. Then you have Deep Space Nine… the station guarding the mouth of the Bajoran wormhole."

"Betazed," said Chakotay pointing at a planet that turned red to indicate it was in the hands of the enemy. The man was surprised that Betazed fell before he and Janeway glanced at each other while wondering how far the Dominion, the enemy they had only heard about, had been able to get into Federation territory.

"Basically if Earth falls, everything becomes unstuck," said Willow.

"General Rosenberg," said Teal'c as Willow looked up at him, "with your permission, I will have the Free Jaffa Council send a group of Hat'ak class ships."

Willow nodded her head before Teal'c turned and walked out of the room. Once the doors closed again, Willow looked at Janeway and asked if Voyager had any children on board.

"Yes," she nodded.

"The child can't go where we're going, Captain," said Willow while Janeway frowned, "the Ori and the Goa'uld are races your people have never fought before. And I'd like to explain things in detail. But…"

"Willow," said Andrew as she faced the screen.

"There are more of those Kull warriors coming through the Stargate in the Presidio," he continued before the image showed a map of San Francisco. They watched Starfleet Command be overrun by the Kull warriors. More and more of them left the confines of Starfleet Command and started to enter the city. Some were crossing the bridge towards the Oakland area, their armour effective against the energy weapons being wielded by the Federation Security Forces.

"They're heading towards the Academy," said Chakotay.

"The cadets will be in danger," said Tuvok as he watched the Kull warriors moved forward with ruthless efficiency shooting down anyone who shot at them. The image then changed to the Milky Way once again and the blue around Deep Space Nine had turned red. Willow asked Andrew to zoom in on DS9, and she and the others were able to see two Ha'tak class vessels looming over the station while Cardassian ships were heading for it at maximum warp. The other planets had turned red as well when the ships from Cardassia headed for Andoria, Earth, Tellar, and Vulcan. Each had different arrival times with Ba'al's ship, four Ha'taks, and seven Al'Kesh exiting over Pluto and just staying there. Ba'al had given the Earth an hour to surrender, and he was going to keep that promise. The other Ha'tak ships and Al'kesh stopped over each of their planets; Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar, and then started to fire on any resistance.

"Oh God," said Janeway as a bolt of range plasma was fired from a Hatak vessel. The plasma caused the shields of the Andorian warship to flare, collapsed it, and then went on to destroying the vessel; all in one shot. Janeway looked at the angry looks on the face of the Tau'ri next to her and then back at the screen as twenty more ships were destroyed before the Andorian vessels retreated back to the planet. Tuvok watched as the Goa'uld ships destroyed several Vulcan vessels, their phasers doing nothing against the Ori enhanced shielding of the Goa'uld. They then watched the Tellarite ships be destroyed before they retreated as well. The Goa'uld were holding station over the planets as if they were waiting for an order.

"Faith," said Willow, "call Buffy and all the senior Slayers. Everyone's getting activated. Get Angel, Spike, and Kathy too. Once the Stargate disengages, we'll dial the Gate from here. I want SG-1, SG-2, 3, 4, and 5 with full anti-Kull armour loadouts. And the Slayers? Well…. You guys know what to do."

"I know," said Faith before she rushed out the room and headed to operations to contact Buffy. In the meantime, Willow asked Janeway to send the child to the Midway station with her parents since her safety couldn't be guaranteed on her own ship or on Atlantis.

"Once the battle is over," said Willow, "we'll Gate her and her parents from the Midway Station to Earth. You have my guarantee, Captain. There are no children coming with us either, everyone's being evacuated."

"Janeway to Ensign Wildman," said Janeway while Willow nodded her head and then turned to Andrew and Jonathan and asked them to expect a few guests. The two of them nodded their head while Janeway was telling Ensign Samantha Wildman to beam herself and her daughter to her coordinates. Once Ensign Wildman said she would be on the way, Willow turned back to the hologram and wondered aloud the best way to get the Cardassians, and the Breen.

"And a group called the Dominion," said Chakotay, "they've invaded the Alpha quadrant as well."

"And the Dominion," added Willow with a nod of her head, "out of the way so that all we deal with is Ba'al and Adria."

"With Captain Janeway's help, we can find out the location of the Breen, Dominion and Cardassian homeworlds," said Daniel, "we could establish a blockade."

"We only just heard of the Dominion," said Captain Janeway, "you've seen where Cardassia is located. As for the Breen? I can have Ensign Kim send you those coordinates."

"We need to show them we mean business when we tell them to back off," said Willow nodding her head as she looked at the hologram once again, "a blockade won't be enough."

"There is one way," said General O'Neill, "low risk, but the payoff will be enormous."

"Which is?" asked General Carter.

"We do to the Cardassian and Breen homeworlds what the United States did to Japan to end World War Two," said General O'Neill while Janeway looked at him stunned.

"You're talking about the extermination of thousands…. Millions of innocents including women and…"

"I'm sure Jack doesn't mean we actually nuke them, right?" asked Daniel while Tuvok took a deep breath and Chakotay looked on concerned. He was about to open his mouth to support Janeway when General O'Neill said that of course, he didn't mean to fire nuclear weapons at them.

"Do you know how many people thought we faked a moon landing?" asked the General, "I say we fake an attack."

"We just need to know their most populous cities, their military bases, their planetary defences, and power generation sites," said General Carter while Janeway and Chakotay breathed a sigh of relief.

"We can do that," said Willow nodding her head, "but I still want all Tau'ri ships loaded with three Horizon weapons. That wormhole is connected to Ba'al's base of operations, and I want that place reduced to stellar dust."

"Willow," said Andrew, "our system is showing that seven hundred Kull warriors have come through the Gate, but we can't access the Gate's own diagnostic systems. We can't track the wormhole."

"Then we need Ba'al and, or, Adria alive to find out the location," said Willow, "which means we need a portable Gate shield after our thirty-three minutes are up."

"Yep," Jonathan said.

"Captain Janeway," said General Carter, "if I give you a range of frequencies that we know are effective against Kull warriors, could your weapons match those frequencies?"

"Our phasers are capable of rotating between multiple frequencies," said Janeway nodding her head.

"Willow," said the blonde General, "if I can connect Voyager's subspace systems to our own subspace satellite network, then Captain Janeway could send Starfleet a way to at least fight the Kulls. Prevent more deaths."

"Do it, ma'am," said Willow nodding her head as General Carter rushed off with the Captain to Stargate Operations.

"Commanders," said General O'Neill at Tuvok and Chakotay, "let's create a fake attack, shall we?"

**New Terra, ten minutes later.**

New Terra was the first world colonised, along with Lantea, after the Tau'ri moved to the Pegasus galaxy. This was the planet where Ira and Sheila Rosenberg made a new home, as well as Buffy and her family. The blonde Slayer, while over nine hundred years old, looked as if she was in her late forties. But thanks to the nanites in her system that enhanced her already mystically enhanced body, she still fought as if she was in her late teens. She, just like Faith, Rona, Satsu, VI, and several other Slayers activated on Earth and in the Pegasus galaxy, was a veteran of the war against the wraith.

The Slayers, along with the existing Cylon Centurions, were key in the war against the monsters. Their enhanced strength, agility, healing, and fighting skills were what turned the tide against the Wraith on the first day of the war. For forty years the Slayers fought and helped win one battle after the other while losing five Slayers to the Wraith in forty years. Buffy and Faith, and a few others retired when the Wraith threat had decreased significantly five years ago… and the slack was taken up by some of the new Slayers activated in Pegasus.

Buffy was now a trainer at the Slayer Academy, as well as a clinical psychologist who taught at the Tau'ri Army Command on New Terra. She had the life she had always wanted during the time they were in time dilation; it was peaceful with very little goings-on as far as the supernatural was concerned. She had Xander in her life, as well as Joyce. She had Dawn, and their adopted brother and sister from Edina, Jay and Rose. She was also finally able to build her family. Brendan was the first born, and then came Sarah, and finally Lisa.

And they were accomplished in their own right.

Brendan, like Xander, was a popular novelist; Sarah was a trained counsellor and psychiatrist, and Lisa was in command of the Persephone… she was the only one in the Summers family to join the Tau'ri military after being activated.

Buffy had peace again after helping save the galaxy. And now, nine minutes ago, she received a call from Faith that Slayers were being mobilised. To her surprise, Ba'al and Adria were alive and they were sending Kull warriors to Earth.

The blonde Slayer looked at the black armour that was standard issue for all the Slayers, as well as the green crystal in the middle of the chest. It was this invention that protected them from the Wraith feeding on them. Buffy then looked, while Xander crept up behind her and then wrapped his arms around his wife's hips, at the silver tube-like object hanging next to it. She looked at the silver and black handle with a red button at the top, and then looked up at Xander before kissing him.

"You have to go?" asked Xander softly after their lips parted.

"We'll be back," replied Buffy as she stared at him, "this is what Slayers do, save the world. Any world."

"Come back safe," Xander whispered before Buffy looked at the armour and the silver and black tube; a weapon that was once thought as ridiculous science fiction was the brain-child of Xander, Andrew, and Jonathan while they were discussing a way to create the perfect weapon for a Slayer in the war against the Wraith. With the Slayer scythe on Earth having been passed to the next Slayer hundreds of years ago, the Slayers needed a signature weapon of their own in Pegasus. And so this weapon was developed after a little over forty tries, twenty near maimings, ten near deaths, and an explosion at a lab after it was evacuated following an issue with the naquada-fusion power cell. It was a weapon that was excitedly endorsed by Generals O'Neill, Sheppard, and Mitchell. Vala was excited about it as well, as was Teal'c although he didn't show it.

However, the weapon could only be used by a Slayer since it needed enhanced senses to wield it without killing, or maiming, themselves or others. The Slayers were trained in the use of the weapon for at least ten years before they could go out in the field with it. Luckily, by the time the Time dilation bubble was deactivated, the more than four hundred Slayers were proficient in the weapon.

And they formed a key part of the Tau'ri contingent as ground troops within the larger Alliance space force that decimated the Wraith.

Back in the present, Buffy started to take off her clothes while Xander handed his wife the black armour.

**Sunnydale, California, several minutes ago.**

Josie Charney was just about to start her lesson on the Xindi attack on Earth when the PADD she was holding started to beep. It was the same with all the other PADD's on the desks of her sixth-grade class. One student after another turned on their PADDs while Josie was asking everyone to not be distracted by whatever it was that they were being alerted about.

"Miss Charney?" said one of her Bolian students, his face showing fear, after looking up from his PADD, "you may want to see this? Ummm… may I be excused?"

"What's going on?" asked Josie as she looked at the fearful faces on the faces of her other students. She then picked up her PADD and activated the alert message. What she saw chilled her to the bone as what could only be described as a blue portal in the middle of a stone ring was spewing out beings in armour that were shooting at Starfleet officers. However, the beings themselves weren't being harmed upon being hit by phaser fire.

"The Dominion have invaded," said a scared girl in the back row. Everything then started to yell over each other that Earth was being attacked. That the Dominion were invading Earth.

"Hey!" Josie yelled after giving off a shrill whistle that quietened everyone down, "we have Starfleet and the Federation Security Services to protect us." Deep down inside, though, Josie knew something was very wrong as the students looked up at her with fear on their faces; these new beings didn't look like the Federation News service's description of the Jem Hadar, and she didn't recognise the word 'Goa'uld', or 'Ba'al' as reported. She told the children to turn off their PADDs, and then turned to the Bolian child and asked him if any of his family was at Starfleet headquarters.

"My father," he said.

"We've been told that the Enterprise is in orbit with several other ships," said Josie gently, "I'm sure they have something planned." However, Josie stopped talking upon hearing a voice coming through the school's public address system.

"Attention, this is Principal Valar to all students and staff of Sunnydale High School," said the Vulcan principal over the Public-Address system as Josie looked out the window upon seeing several long, white coloured transport with the Sunnydale High logo embossed on the sides flew overhead, "staff is to accompany their students to the quad for immediate evacuation to their transports. They will then be taken to their places of residence; all parents have been notified. All staff, once the students have been cleared, are to return home and engage level three security measures on the recommendation of the Federation Security Services and Starfleet Security."

"Alright kids," said Josie as the students started to pick up their PADDs, "line on up."

It was ten minutes later that Josie rushed back to her apartment on her motorcycle. Once she reached her apartment, she then ran up the stairs and opened the door to her apartment.

"Lights, Computer, show me the current news out of San Francisco," said Josie as the lights in her apartment turned on after she closed the door behind her. Her flat screen monitor then activated to show running battles between the invaders and the forces of Federation and Starfleet security on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge. "I need a one-way pass to San Francisco through Air Tram, transporters, or any form of travel."

"San Francisco has been declared a quarantined zone by Federation Security until the current crisis has been abated," said the female voice of the Computer, "all incoming traffic to teh San Francisco has has been rerouted to Los Angeles, Sunnydale, and Santa Barbara."

"Fine," sighed Josie as she headed to her bedroom and rushed onwards the closet. She opened the doors and then went down on one knee. "Call the Devon Coven, I need to talk to Miss Amara." The computer then beeped, telling Josie that the Devon Coven was being called while she input some numbers into a keypad on a long black case. The keypad glowed green before the case unlocked on its own as a female voice spoke through the speakers in her room.

"Josie," said the voice belonging to a middle-aged woman in the Devon Coven while an older woman was holding onto her shoulder, "I was just about to call you and…"

"I need a portal transport to San Francisco," said Josie while she looked at the object in the case, and then closed the cover. A handle then popped out and she grabbed it before picking it up off the ground. She then narrowed her eyes and then tilted her head in surprise while placing the case on her bed. "Wait, what did you mean you were going to call me?"

"I wouldn't be a good watcher, even while on vacation, if I couldn't guess your needs," said Miss Amara, "plus. I'm watching the news too. The weapon may not be enough."

"Phasers don't seem to work," said Josie as she opened the case again as it lay on the bed. She reached into the case and then grabbed the long handle of the weapon. She then picked it up while feeling a sensation from the weapon calling out to her. She stared at the weapon, a weapon she rarely used except during her nightly patrols three times a week; a weapon she was told was supposed to be handed down from one Slayer to the next. And now, the weapon was hers. As she looked at the sharp blade, Josie said, "maybe we need to try something from the past."

TBC.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Midway Station, five minutes later; forty-five minutes to take-off.**

The Pegasus gate on the Midway station activated just as Jonathan, Andrew and the Sikarian woman, Lianta, walked down the stairs and to the massive Gateroom. They stood at the bottom on the ramp with the Milky Way Gate behind them and welcomed the surprised Samantha and Naomi Wildman who spun around quickly as the Stargate shut down. They then looked around their surroundings while the six-foot-tall blue skilled Lianta walked up the ramp with a smile on her face.

"Welcome, Samantha Wildman, Naomi Wildman, to the Midway Station," she said as Naomi looked up and grinned while Samantha nodded her head before looking around once again. "I would like to introduce the both of you to Andrew Wells and Jonathan Levinson of Lantea."

"Hi," said Samantha in surprise, "so you're from… I mean the Captain just gave me a quick summary but… but you're from Earth?"

"Sunnydale, California," said Andrew motioning towards himself and Jonathan. "How about we show you guys around the place? The commanders of the stations over Lantea may say they have the best view, but the truth is that we're the ones with the best view of all."

"Come on," said Jonathan as he and Andrew accompanied the newcomers to the Mess Hall where the Federation citizens were awestruck by what they were seeing; on one side was the Milky Way, and on the other side was the Pegasus galaxy. Ensign Wildman simply stared at the beauty of the two galaxies while Naomi exclaimed that it was amazing.

"Ensign," said Lianta who was looked proudly at the Milky Way before turning towards Ensign Wildman, "it may take the fleet some time to complete their mission. In the meantime, we have some quarters ready for yourself and your daughter so that you may rest."

"Thank.. thank you," said Ensign Wildman while Andrew and Jonathan were hiding their excitement at speaking to the very same Ensign Wildman as on the television show. "But… but I'd like to.. I mean… is there a way to see how we're doing so far? I mean… the Captain said you have a listening post on the station and…"

"I am sorry but the listening post on the station is only open to authorised personnel given the sensitive nature of the sensors and scanners," said Lianta, "but we'll be giving you up to the minute updates. If that's acceptable."

"It is," said the Ensign while she held on to Naomi's hand tightly. Lianta, an empath, sensed worry emanating from the Ensign and sought to distract both her and her daughter. She asked for the Ensign's specialty, and was told that it was Xenobiology. Lianta seemed impressed before telling her that there were a combined team of Sikarians, Kobolians, and Asurans who were studying a recent discovery of a creature the size of a flea that fed on dark matter energy in the void. The Ensign told down at her daughter who nodded her head after Andrew offered to replicate a few Earth desserts while the Ensign was busy.

While the Ensign followed Lianta to the observation lab where the group was observing the creatures, Andrew began replicating some desserts while Naomi took a seat and watched the Milky way, and then looked behind her at Pegasus. Just as Andrew came back with a trayful of desserts from the energy-matter converter, Jonathan was already in the listening post focusing on the battles going on in the Milky Way.

**Conference Room, Atlantis, at that same time.**

Janeway was about to press her comm-badge and ask to be beamed back to Voyager when Dr. MacKay arrived in the conference room. It was only a matter of minutes ago that the Wildmans were beamed to the Conference Room from Voyager, and then Willow asked Daniel to brief them on where they were going, on the way to Stargate Operations. The Ensign looked at the Captain confused, and all the Starfleet officer could do was assure the Wildmans' that they were going to be safe and sound. It was then that Daniel ushered them out to the Operations room where they were briefed on where they were going, and how they were getting there.

Just before the Wildmans were beamed to the Conference Room, General Carter, Chakotay, and Tuvok left for the hologram room two levels down so that they could set up a realistic simulation. Back in the now, Mackay, who had a tablet in his hands, nodded at Janeway before giving her a double take. Janeway noticed the double take by the scientist and asked the man if he wanted to say something.

"Nothing, sorry," he replied while Willow looked away and smiled, "you just look like someone I know."

"Oh," replied the Captain while McKay was communicating with Willow mentally as he 'exclaimed' that they were actually talking to Captain Kathryn Janeway of 'Voyager'.

"Ahem," coughed Willow, "Dr. Rodney Mackay, this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager."

"Oh, hi," said the scientist shaking hands with the Captain. HE then turned to Willow and asked why she need to talk to him since he was still securing all his experiments.

"You know your assistants are doing that, Rodney," said Willow.

"I'm supervising," said Mackay as he pointed towards the lourved doors that had already closed.

"Well, they'll continue on without you. Listen, I need you to set our long range inter-galactic satellites so that we can send a message to Starfleet Command and…"

"What subspace frequencies do you use?" asked Mackay curtly as he turned to the Captain. She was surprised at his rudeness, and then looked back at Willow who frowned. The redhead told the Captain that Mackay had his peculiarities, but he was one of the most brilliant people she knew. The Captain however, didn't take to that explanation. What would have been an insubordinate attitude for her crew, had seemed to be more of a distraction for Willow… and it was that which was going through her mind as she said, in a joking manner, that things seemed to be too easy in the city.

"After you've been through everything we have," said General O'Neill who was standing next to Willow, "after you sacrifice everything we've sacrificed? Trust me, it's better to give our people some slack. They do get the job done."

"And I'm sure Rodney here has a way to use the Ancient long range satellite network to send a subspace message to…"

"Can't do it right now," said Mackay as he tapped on his laptop before Willow could finish saying what she wanted to say. He then looked up from the tablet, and handed it to Willow, "our satellite networks use a highly encrypted subspace frequency. Depending on the technology that Starfleet's using, it would take us anywhere from an hour to five hours before anyone could send a message."

Willow frowned and then handed the tablet to Mackay who then asked the Captain what frequencies, both secured and unsecured, were used by Starfleet for communication purposes. The Captain was hesitant in giving them any Starfleet communication frequencies or codes, and so she asked a question instead.

"Are you sure it'll take an hour at least?"

"A least," said Mackay.

"There's got to be something you could do to… you know… do your miracle stuff.. thing… you know the stuff you do when we were in a bind?" asked Willow, "I kinda did promise that we'd be able to send a message."

"You can send a message. It's just that one hour is the best I can give you, General," said Mackay. And from his voice, which had turned serious, Janeway knew that it was true. As did Willow and General O'Neil. Willow then apologized to Janeway, who looked as if her world was crashing around her at the thought of Earth being undefended, and at the thought of the armoured beings being unable to be affected by their phasers. She calculated in her mind the consequences of giving the Tau'ri the frequencies to the Starfleet communication protocols – meaning that the Tau'ri could very well find the location of every single Starfleet ship. She would, in other words, singlehandedly place the entire quadrant in danger.

"Are you absolutely sure?" asked Captain Janeway as she looked at Mackay, "it would take at least an hour?"

"At the minimum."

"We leave in forty-five minutes, Rodney," said Willow while a conflicted Janeway looked away.

"What's…"

"Captain," said Willow as she looked at Janeway, "I know something's wrong. I can sense your unease, and I can hear your thoughts…."

"You read my mind?" asked Janeway.

"No," Willow assured her, "that's one of our laws. Never intrude into another living mind without permission. It's what all our telepaths learn the very first day they learn the use of their powers. But it's hard not to miss out when you're thinking out really,, really loud."

"Oh," said the Captain.

"And we're not going to use your codes to check on the positions of your ships," said Willow, "we have absolutely no intention of attacking the Federation or its allies. And we have no intention of invading the Milky Way. I know you don't trust us because of who we are and this decision is completely up to you. But maybe we can find a way to help you.. maybe we could, based on the frequencies, finish what we need to do in less than an hour."

"But…"

"Rodney," said Willow as she arched at eyebrow at the scientist who then sighed and asked Janeway to input the frequencies. He told her that maybe he could perform some technological magic to send a message through.

"But no promises," he said as Janeway was handed the tablet. She stared at the space for inputting a range of frequencies, and thought back again to the fact that she was giving away the key to Starfleet's communication protocols. The Captain looked at the tablet, closed her eyes while shaking her head, and then gave the tablet back to Mackay while saying that she couldn't risk handing over Starfleet's communications codes to people she couldn't trust. "It's too much of a risk."

"Trust me, I wasn't kidding about needing at least an hour," said Mackay before turning back to Willow, "okay. Now, can I go? I mean is this the only reason I'm here or…"

Before Mackay could continue speaking, the lourved doors behind them opened again before Daniel and Teal'c walked in. The archaeologist then said "the Wildmans' are in Midway Station. Oh, and guess who dropped by?"

Vala rushed into the conference room behind Daniel and Teal'c, and headed straight for Willow who gave her a sad smile. With General O'Neill, next to the redhead, he watched the two women hug each other as Willow welcomed her back to Atlantis.

"I need to see her," said Vala as she stepped back and placed her hands on Willow's arms, "Willow, I need to see her."

Willow nodded her head as Daniel guided Vala to another screen while Teal'c told the redhead that the Jaffa Council authorised thirty Chulak class ships, the warships that replaced the Ha'tak class vessels, to join the alliance fleet, "they will be in orbit of Lantea within twenty minutes."

"Thanks," said Willow as Teal'c nodded his head respectfully before excusing himself. He said that he was returning to the homeworld of the Free Jaffa Nation so that he could ready himself for battle. The redhead nodded her head and watched as he walked off before turning to McKay and Janeway, who watched Teal'c leave before turning back to Willow. While Mackay was asking the redhead what exactly was going on, and the reason for the evacuation, Janeway looked over the redhead's shoulder at Vala staring stunned at the video of Adria from a few minutes ago. She saw the woman cover her mouth with her hands before Daniel placed an arm around her trembling shoulders.

Making a mental note to ask questions at a later time, preferably once they had saved Earth, Janeway turned her focus back to Willow and MacKay.

"We have a little problem," said Willow before McKay could say anything else. Willow, Janeway and McKay turned to the hologram as the redhead tapped on all of the engagement zones. The images then showed a Goa'uld fleet over Pluto, the Goa'uld ships over Vulcan, Deep Space Nine, and several other worlds. Upon seeing the ships, McKay's eyes went wide.

"The Goa'uld?" asked McKay.

"And the Ori," Willow said as McKay's jaw dropped, "Adria's still alive."

"Are you sure?" asked McKay.

"Yep," Willow said nodding at the gasp from Vala's mouth as she looked at her daughter. Willow and McKay looked at the woman, and then back at each other before the redhead said that Ba'al was back too, and that he placed Qetesh in Adria's body. "Ba'al has access to Goa'uld, and he already had access to Asgard technology after Anubis' downfall which is now augmented by Ori tech. He just devastated a planet, Rodney."

"How many people died?" asked McKay stunned.

"We don't know," Willow admitted, "we're guessing… maybe lowball estimates are at least a billion. What we do know is that they gave Earth an hour to surrender. And right now, we have about forty-five minutes… or less, to get to Earth and finish this war."

"Well," said McKay as he showed Willow his tablet while glancing at the Federation ships after tapping a few sections on the screen. He was surprised when Willow and Faith told him last night about the fact that Voyager itself was parked on one of the piers. He wasn't surprised about the existence of the Federation vessels since he was one of the first to see the scans of the earlier ships when the Tau'ri were placing satellites around the Sol system centuries ago. He then glanced at the Goa'uld ship that looked similar to the ship that Anubis once used to attack Earth and then turned back to the tablet in Willow's hands, "Atlantis has a full complement of drones. It should be enough to beat the shields, even if they are Ori enhanced."

"The Alliance will be taking no risks, Doc," said Willow as she returned the tablet to MacKay, "we're on a full war footing. An Alliance fleet of a hundred and fifty ships are on the way, we've mobilized the Slayers for the Kull Warriors attacking San Francisco and.."

"Wait, what?" asked McKay shaking his head, "the Stargates should be inoperative."

Willow tapped the hologram, of the Federation fleet over Earth, and then zoomed in on the planet the three of both of them watched the Kull warriors continuing to pour into the Presidio from the event horizon or the Stargate. McKay whispered to himself that it was impossible for the Stargates to work since he and General Carter worked on the Avenger Three virus that shut the entire network down. However, in the middle of his speech, MacKay stopped talking and frowned.

"The DHD's were used to conduct the correlative update which spread the virus," said McKay as he stared at the rippling event horizon as the Kull Warriors continued to arrive in twos, and were immediately attacked. It was about this time that Vala finished watching Adria finish her speech before she, Daniel, and General O'Neill turned and headed to Willow and McKay… Vala mentally telling Willow that they were getting Adria back alive, "but what if these Stargates weren't connected to their DHD's?"

"We know that Ba'al was trying to create his own network of Stargates after the System Lords fell," said Daniel, "but we stopped him. We got all his Stargates, didn't we?"

"I'm sorry," said Janeway as she raised her hand, "he's done this before? This Ba'al character?"

"Short story? Yes." General O'Neill said, "the long story? When we have more time."

"Agreed," said Janeway as she looked at the Kull Warriors coming through the Stargate. And she hoped she did the right thing. "But the people… I'm worried about innocent lives and…"

"Ba'al wants what every Goa'uld wants," said Vala as she stared at the still image of Adria on the screen at the other side of the hologram. She then turned to Janeway and, before she could say anything else, noticed the uniform. She hesitated for a second while looking on in surprise while Willow had to mentally tell her that the woman was really Voyager's captain. Shaking her head, Vala continued talking, "they want slaves. They want to be worshipped because they see themselves as gods. He and Qetesh won't harm the people unless they fight back. Like I said they want slaves and worshippers."

General O'Neill then interrupted by saying that they needed to take Ba'al and Adria alive if they were to ever find the location of the other Stargates… or at least if there were indeed other Stargates in addition to the one in the Presidio. And the one on the planet where the Kull Warriors were being sent from.

"First things first," said Willow looking away from the hologram to McKay, "I need to know how much power we need to use the wormhole drive, to place a subspace shell around all one hundred and fifty ships and…"

"Wormhole drive?" asked Janeway.

"Atlantis has a hyperdrive, and another method of faster than light travel using space folding technology that…"

"Oh my God," said Janeway, "we met a race that used space folding technology. But they had a limit of forty thousand light years. Are you saying we could head to Earth in one jump."

"It's risky, and needs a lot… and I mean a lot, of power," said Willow before turning to Mackay. "Rodney, do we have the power?"

"To get us to Earth?" asked McKay as he made the calculations on the tablet. He tapped the screen several times before transferring the finished data a few minutes later to the pedestal. The hologram changed to show the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies, with the Midway Station in the middle of the void. Then a red line was drawn from Lantea all the way past Midway Station, to just outside the outer arms of the Milky Way galaxy.

"So we end up just outside the galaxy," said Daniel as he looked at the hologram, "not exactly where we need to be."

"Like Willow told Captain Janeway, the Wormhole drive uses a massive amount of power," said McKay motioning towards Willow, Janeway, and then at the hologram, "we'll be moving a huge number of ships, including Atlantis itself, to another region of space in one jump. And so, a lot of power is needed"

"How much power are we talking about?" asked General O'Neill.

"Our ZPM's will be at two percent," said McKay, "and that's dangerously low. When we first came to Atlantis, the power levels were only at one percent. And you know what happened after that."

As the Atlantis personnel spoke, Janeway listened as more and more questions started to swim in her head. The big question right now was, 'what's a ZPM? A power source?'

"The shield nearly collapsed and the city rose to the surface," said Willow as she looked at the hologram which zoomed into the projected location of where the fleet would complete it's jump. "So the big problem are the ships that're coming with us."

"Yep," said McKay.

"How long would it take for us to get to Earth from there?" asked Vala.

"More likely question is how long will we have shields?" asked Daniel.

"If we could have personnel in the power room with ZPM's ready," said McKay as he tapped in a few figures onto the tablet in his hands. He shook his head saying that the shield would need all three ZPM's to maintain itself. He explained that even if one was removed at that low of a power level, the shield would fail and all of them would have no atmosphere. "but, once we jump out, We could pull back the shielding to cover only Stargate Operations and the Gateroom. It would reduce power usage drastically and maybe… just maybe, mean we have shields for ten minutes."

"More than enough time for those in the power room, who by the way I suppose will be in environmental suits, to switch out the ZPM's one by one so that the rest of us in the city don't die." Willow then looked questioningly at MacKay to confirm her theory, and cracked a smile when MacKay nodded his head.

"We need a skeleton crew then," said the General as Willow looked at him and nodded her head, "leave only the essential personnel, especially the people in Stargate Operations. The Slayers, in case the Stargate doesn't disengage, can be beamed onto the ships heading for Earth."

"We can fit twenty people in Stargate Ops, and then activate a shield only in that area" said Willow, "then once the new ZPM's are inserted, we extend the shields and head into Hyperspace."

"It'll take ten minutes to get to Earth," said Mackay.

"So Atlantis, Voyager, and all of our Aurora-class ships; the Kobolians, the Free Jaffa Nation and the O'Neill class Asgard ships will head to Earth to take care of Ba'al's mothership," said Willow, "The Daedalus class ships will go along with some of the other vessels to the other engagement zones. I want Slayers on the Daedalus class ships too, just in case we have Kull Warriors on the other planets. General?"

"I'll take care of it," said General O'Neill as he and Willow nodded at each other, "think we can get everyone out of here in the next forty minutes?"

"We have to," Willow said looking at the hologram before turning to Mackay, "I want three cases of ZPM's on stand-by in the power-room. Just to be on the safe side."

"Got it," said Mackay.

"How about our short range comms?" asked Willow, "would those need to be…?"

"No," said MacKay, "just the long range communication satellites need to be modified to handle the Starfleet frequencies."

"Have someone on it, just in case," said Willow as MacKay nodded before rushing out of the room.

"Vala, I take it you'll be heading to the surface, or to Ba'al's ship?" asked Willow, "depending on Adria's location?"

"You bet."

"Suit up," said Willow as Vala nodded her head before turning to Daniel and General O'Neill. "All personnel on the front lines will have to have on the modified armour, and the Kull disruptor weapons. General, I know you retired, but…."

"Make sure everyone gets suited up?" asked General O'Neill.

"Yes, sir," said Willow with a smile as the older man patted her shoulder and then walked past while Janeway walked towards Vala and asked her about Adria; particularly if she knew her.

"She…. It's complicated," said Vala, "Adria's my daughter, a child of the Ori."

"You mentioned that name before, the Ori, who are they?"

"We'll explain everything later, Captain," said Willow as Janeway turned towards her, "all you need to know is that she is dangerous. Much more dangerous than Ba'al. The fact that she's under the control of a Goa'uld is amazing in at of itself. But the fact that she's alive means the galaxy is in danger."

"What do you mean by 'she's alive'? Should she be alive?"

"She died," said Vala as she looked back at the still image of her daughter, and then back at an astonished Janeway, "I should know. I killed her."

"And I finished the job," said Willow.

"Excuse me?" asked Janeway in surprise.

"We do have more pressing matters now though," said Daniel as Willow nodded her head.

"Everything else can wait. For right now?" said Willow looking back at the image of the Stargate in the Presidio, "let's get ready for one last battle."

**Starfleet Command, two minutes later.**

Laforge and Data were firing their phasers at the four armoured beings headed towards them and their unit. They were covering some engineers who were retrieving data on a prototype personal shield in one of the many secured buildings in Starfleet headquarters. The seven of them were firing from behind cover as the armoured beings continued to gain on them in the hallway. They heard the buzzing of shuttles outside the building as they continued to fire their phasers in the unpopulated areas of Starfleet Headquarters. From what Laforge was getting from Captain Picard on the Enterprise, the blasts weren't even able to faze the creatures. He confirmed as much when Data fired the Kull warriors from over Laforge's shoulder while he told Picard that one of the shuttles fired at the ground; but all it did was fling the armoured being backwards from the explosion. However, it still got up and started to fire at the shielded shuttle which continued to fire while the armoured beings avoided the shots easily.

That was only two minutes after the beings started to pour in just as shuttles were released from the Enterprise and the other ships in orbit to assist in repelling the invaders. More security personnel were also beamed in with phaser rifles before they took up covered positions to try and beat back the creatures.

So far, however, they were not successful – with Picard saying that the 'armoured beings' had left the confines of Starfleet Command and was now heading for San Francisco and Oakland. He added that the Federation Security Services had begun to try repelling the 'armoured beings' as well with Starfleet security officers. With the majority of the Admirals and the Federation Council having been evacuated to Paris, the Council was due to begin an emergency session on the next crucial step. Starfleet Command had witnessed the destruction of the ships over Andoria, Vulcan, and Tellar Prime… and knew that a larger force of their most powerful and agile sips was needed to even stand a chance of beating back Ba'al's ship.

"Captain Picard to the bridge, Captain Picard to the bridge," said the Lieutenant as Ensign Perim turned back towards her console and watched in stunned silence at the more than three hundred ships heading towards Pluto. And the ships were not Starfleet vessels; they were instead a combined Cardassian and Breen fleet that was twenty minutes away just as ten other pyramid shaped ships jumped in next to Ba'al's vessel. This was followed by twelve smaller ships, the design was the exact same as the one that appeared over Earth earlier that day.

The invasion fleet was getting ready to strike. And all Ensign Perim could do was helplessly watched as reinforcement where heading towards Earth at high warp; they would be in orbit over Earth in thirty minutes.

Back on the surface, Laforge knew that they were in a secured area, but the problem was that the armoured beings walked through any shields that were put up to slow them down. The smell of phaser fire was in the air as all of the Starfleet personnel continued to fire the directed energy weapons at full modulated power.

"Where's that shield!" yelled Laforge over his shoulder.

"Nearly there, sir," said one of the engineers, "I'll replicate a few for us before we have to beam up to the Enterprise to modify it."

"What do you mean 'modify it'?" demanded Laforge as he shot off a blast before taking cover from pulses of plasma that just missed his head.

"It's a prototype, sir," exclaimed one of the engineers shouting from the room, "the shield would eventually be able to give the user a three hundred and sixty degree coverage, but for the prototype, we only managed shielding for the front of the body. We have some… well… power issues."

"Great," said Laforge sarcastically.

"Geordie," said Data as he fired, "I believe the term is, 'we take what we can get'."

"I know," Laforge whispered, "we'll be facing these things anyway, but what we really need is something that can penetrate their armour."

He also hoped that the shield would at least be useful against the plasma bursts the armoured beings were firing at them. However, just as he thought about the plasma bursts, one hit an officer who was standing next to him. The young woman fell to the floor crying out in pain with a scorched plasma impact on her chest.

"Ensign!" said Laforge as the young woman looked at him before her cries of pained softened, and softened, until she just stared at him with empty eyes. Geordie looked away while firing his phaser while one of the other officers rushed out from under cover to grab her body and pull it back into the room where the engineers were still searching for the information on the personal force field.

"To all Starfleet officers," said Captain Picard as he stood alongside Riker, Admiral Paris, and two others, "modulate your phasers. The armour could work in a similar fashion to how the Borg adapts to our weapons. Since Ba'al somehow managed to gain access to our communication protocols, we believe that he also knows our weapons frequencies. So modulate your phasers, while we modulate the shield and weapons access codes on the Enterprise and the other ships in orbit."

Once the instructions came down from the Captain, the other officers continued to fire while Laforge and Data set their phasers to modulate between all available frequencies during each firing cycle. Once the others finished firing, Data and Laforge fired while the others set up the frequencies on their phasers. However, the beams didn't affect the beings who fired back. Everyone took cover in the hallway while the officers fired from cover as the beams modulated between one frequency and the next automatically with Data telling the Enterprise, that the frequencies weren't working.

"Captain, I suggest…." Laforge stopped when he noticed a bright white light behind the armoured beings. He looked on in stunned silence, as did the beings who turned back at the light opening a rippling red coloured rift in mid-air. Data took out his tricorder and scanned the rift from his area of cover and said that the device didn't recognize the energy signature. He said he wasn't getting any radiation signatures either. At the same time, the Captain's voice came over Laforge's commbadge asking if he was alright.

"Stand by, Captain," whispered Laforge just as a woman jumped out of the rift carrying what he swore was a red and silver curved blade at the end of a metallic staff; part of which was wrapped in cloth with sharp protrusions in the middle. And just below that, it seemed to end with a long-sharpened piece of wood.

However, it was what happened next the surprised him even more. The woman immediately stepped forward and kicked at one of the armoured beings. The kick knocked him into the second one before they fell onto the floor. The woman then swung the blade into the third creature's chest while ducking a blast of plasma fire. She then rolled behind the creature she stabbed and wrapped an arm around its neck using. She used the being as a shield to block the incoming plasma fire, while using her other hand to rip the scythe from it's chest.

The being she was holding onto was struggling while getting blasted from the other Kull Warrior as blood poured down the armour, and onto the floor. Josie smiled and threw the scythe towards the Warrior blasting her 'shield'. The blade cut through the air before slicing into the Warrior's head, and it dropped dead. Josie then reached around with her arms, and broke her 'shields' neck. While the body fell onto the floor, Josie saw the other two getting up to their feet. She ran to the scythe, removed it from the head of the fourth armoured being, and then leapt while swinging the blade. She beheaded the Kull warrior just as it fired a shot.. the blast hit the other side of the hallway leaving behind a scorch mark on the wall. Upon landing, her legs were alongside the head of the second warrior. She jerked her lower body and cracked its neck.

She then looked at the stunned Starfleet officers while picking up the bloody scythe, "I was just looking for the ladies' powder room. Let me guess, this isn't it."

"Who are you?" asked Laforge just as the engineers walked out with the prototypes and found that the battle was over. They saw the young woman standing with the bloody scythe as Laforge asked her how it was that she got into Starfleet Command.

"Oh… yeah, about that. You wouldn't believe me if I told you… trust me." The woman said before she introduced herself as Josie Charney.

"She's human, Geordie," said Data as he scanned Josie with his tricorder, "no genetic enhancements."

"No, that…."

"Oh," said Josie with her eyes wide open at Data while interrupting Laforge, "you're…. oh… oh… the famous Data, aren't you? The Android."

"Yes," replied Data as Josie grinned and walked around him while Laforge was examining her with the tricorder, and then the area of the rift. He then closed the device after staring at it with a perplexed look and turned to Josie, "Miss, please tell us how you were able to arrive here through a rift, and how was it that you were able to…."

"You mean the strength?" asked Josie.

"Yes," said Data and Laforge together.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," said Josie before she turned at more footsteps coming towards them. Josie then turned to the officers and asked them to get out of there. "I saw the news reports, phasers don't work against these things."

"But a… a.. medieval weapon does?" asked Laforge.

"Don't knock the old ways," said Josie before she glanced at the shadow at the end of the hallway. She then looked around and back to the officers before telling them to be beamed out of the area. It was then that Captain Picard contacted Laforge again to say that they were getting reports from all over the city that the modulated phaser frequencies were having a limited effect, but it wasn't stopping the Warriors.

"Captain," said Laforge as Josie raised her weapon at the shadows heading their way, "did the Enterprise sensors show a rift forming three meters away from my present location a minute ago?"

"No," said the Captain after Lt. Daniels shook his head, "have you found the prototype?"

"Yes, sir," said Laforge as he stared at Josie who looked as if she was tensed for another fight, "but… well… I'll explain everything to you. I need a beam-out for eight people, including one civilian."

"Civilian?" asked the Captain confused as Riker asked if he knew who the Civilian was.

"A woman named Josie Charney," said Laforge as Josie looked back and said that she wasn't going anywhere, that if she left.. then the other people in the building would be in danger.

"Check for a Josie Charney on the Federation database," said Riker while, back on the surface, Data was telling Josie that while she seemed to have unexplainable strength, she could not be able to handle the armoured beings on their own.

"But it gives you guys enough time to find a way to beat these things," said Josie, "this is what I do. Go, I'll try and kill as many of these as I can."

"Miss, I need you to come with me and…" Everyone ducked and returned to cover as three Kull Warriors fired at them from the end of the hallway. Josie peeked out from cover behind a piece of debris and threw her Scythe into the chest of the lead Kull Warrior. The armoured being stepped back and fell of one knee while the other two looked at him, and then back up while raising their arms at Josie and the officers. Taking the momentary lull as the Kull warriors raised their arms to fire their weapons, Josie rushed out of her cover while Laforge called out for her. Everything appeared to her in slow motion as she ducked the plasma blasts, one after another as she ran toward a wall. She ran on the wall for three steps, her stride closing the gap between her and the Kull Warriors while phaser beams hit the Warriors and distracted them. Using the distraction, Josie saw one of the Warriors aim its weapons at the Starfleet officer while the other one shot at her. Knowing that she'd be unable to avoid the shots heading for her from her current position, on her third step on the wall, Josie propelled herself over the beams of energy and landed on the floor. She then rolled to the scythe and rolled forward before eviscerating the Kull warrior that had been shooting at here.

Hearing Laforge telling the others to hold fire, Josie slammed her fist into the Warrior's abdomen, pushing it back, and then swinging the Scythe into the side of its head a blood spattered onto the walls. She screamed and then pushed the scythe clean through the neck. The head rolled off and fell onto the floor, with the body following suit. Panting, Josie turned and rushed back to the Starfleet officers, "see? You guys have to find a way to beat these things. I can save as many people as possible."

"We still need to talk," said Geordie, "I'm sure the Captain would want Dr. Crusher to see you and…"

"Believe me, this isn't anything medical or scientific," said Josie, "there are some things that exist outside of science. And I'm one of them."

"That's not possible," said Laforge.

"Maybe it's time you opened your mind," chuckled Josie before she turned.

"You will require a comm-badge and one of these prototype personal force fields," said Data as he walked towards Josie while Laforge was asking him why he was giving away his badge, and one of the prototypes.

"It is logical to assume that more people will die if we do not modify the personal force field within the next thirty minutes, Geordie," said Data as he placed his comm-badge into her hands, "while I am curious as to how she is able to perform these feats without genetic manipulation, she has shown to be able to handle these beings. And the transporters have been slow in evacuating people off the Starfleet Command complex. If she can hold back even a small percentage of the forces invading us, we can save a large number of people."

"Data…"

"I have done the calculations, Geordie," said Data as he looked back at Laforge, "this is the best way to save as many people as possible." Data then looked back at the young woman as she placed the badge on her shirt. He then placed the personal shield emitter on her arm and pressed a few buttons. One of the engineers told Josie to press the red button to enable the force field while he told her about the limitations. Including the fact that the shield would have to be recharged… however he wasn't sure how many hits it could take before it failed.

"You would have to find cover and listen to the audio cues from the computer," said one of the engineers, "it'll tell you when you can activate it again."

"Sweet," said Josie nodding her head before looking at the device. "I'll need a way to get to the hotspots though."

"Once we have beamed into the Enterprise, I will contact you through the comm-badge," said Data, "we will ensure that there is a sensor lock on you. If you need us to beam you out, then all you have to do is press the badge and contact the Enterprise."

"Thanks," Josie said looking at Data as the other officers and engineers picked up their injured and dead, " say, after this is over… I'm sure that my students would love to meet the famous Data from the equally famous Enterprise."

"I will have to clear the offer with Captain Picard," said Data as he looked quizzingly at Josie.

"Wait, did you just say students?" asked Laforge, "you're a teacher?"

"Sunnydale High," answered Josie before she smiled and walked away from them, "we're depending on you guys. Save us again, would ya? I'll hold the fort in the meantime."

"Enterprise," said a stunned Laforge as he pressed his Comm-badge, "seven to beam up."

**Ba'al's ship, orbit of Pluto.**

Adria walked into her chamber behind the curtain in the bridge of the ship. She saw Ba'al standing over their prisoner… the very one who had been forced to give them the access codes to Starfleet and the Federation's communication Protocols.

Captain Edward Jellico of the USS Cairo. His misfortune was to examine a series of subspace bursts from a planet twenty light years away from the Cardassian Demilitarized zone. Once in orbit of the planet, he was beamed to the surface with an away team. And that was the last anyone heard from them; the Cairo was destroyed by a mysterious ship that decloaked, and then cloaked again.

The man watched his away team be tortured. However, no one gave away any information. At least until Adria appeared in the torture chamber. The Captain watched the woman mentally break each of his crew with a glee that not even the Cardassians were capable of. Once of the crew was in so much pain that he screamed at her saying that Jellico would know everything.

However, that didn't save that young man, nor any of the other members of the away team. Adria mentally broke their necks before walking towards him. She said that she and her consort knew what was happening, and that it was time for her people to rise again… to reclaim their empire. The Captain withstood one mental assault after another… but he couldn't hold out. The man broke.

"My love," said Adria in her gravelly voice, indicating that Qetesh was in control.

"My queen," said Ba'al as he turned and glanced at Adria who was grinning maniacally at the Captain who was lying in a torn uniform, shivering on the floor with his eyes wide open in terror, "Starfleet is in a panic. We know that they would never surrender, but…"

"Then we must attack," said Adria staring at the Captain.

"They were given an hour my queen," said Ba'al, "I would prefer they surrender willingly, but if they do not. If they still intend to fight… then we will destroy their ships and technology while you beam down to where their leaders gather. We will kill them all, and then we'll be rulers of Earth. And when the Tau'ri arrive, they will py the price for what they have done to our empire."

"Very well," said Adria as she smiled and tilted her head at the Captain, "show me everything. Where your leaders meet. Any emergency plans…. I want everything you have."

"N…. no…" whispered the Captain who was trying to block the woman. He then gasped as he turned and arched his back while lying on his side. HE screamed out in pain as Adria forced herself into his mind and retried the knowledge she was looking for. Even though she found what they wanted, Adria/Qetesh, continued to probe deeper into his mind… and the screamed started to get louder and louder.

"Qetesh," said Ba'al. Adria stopped and looked at Ba'al with a smile. "if you want to kill him, kill him while I'm not here."

"No…" whispered the Captain.

"But do leave behind the body intact," said Ba'al as she turned and prepared to leave, "you can crush his organs one by one if you want, but I want to return the body to the humans to show that we can be merciful gods. We can help bring closure to this man's family."

"Oh yes," smiled Adria as the Captains screams increased while Ba'al walked out of the room. He heard the screams get louder and louder while Adria was screaming at him to give her everything he had. And then, just like that, the screams were snuffed out. And the bridge of Ba'al's ship was silent once again.

'Now to make certain the back-up doomsday weapon is ready,' thought Ba'al, 'if the humans launch a large resistance, then I don't need the humans on Earth. They will be punished. I just need the planet, and I'll have the entire galaxy bow down to me.'

TBC.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Deep Space Nine, twenty minutes later.**

The two Goa'uld ships were simply hanging in space while their shield and weapons were locked onto Deep Space Nine. In the Control Room, Captain Sisko was looking up at the screen while Odo and Worf, thanks to a speech by Major Kira who managed to calm down the Bajorans trying to attack Gerak, were with the security forces guiding innocents back to their quarters. It would be a few minutes later that Gerak, who was standing as calm as could be, arrived to the Command Denter on a turbolift. Major Kira looked at him without any expression on her face as her eyes remained red in colour, and then looked away.

She didn't want to deal with any Cardassian right now as she wiped the tears off her cheeks and headed back down to the central console where Captain Sisko was standing. Gerak had seen the reaction from the Major, as well as some of the other Bajorans who simply avoided looking at him… however he could feel their anger. The man took in a deep breath before stepping off the turbolift and then walked down the steps to the central console where Dr. Bashir, after having seen to another Bajoran, asked if he was injured.

"I am fine, Doctor," said Gerak as he stood with his hands by his side to show he was not a threat. He then turned to the Captain. "I fear there is more to come?"

"We've detected a force of forty Gallor-class Cardassian ships heading towards us," said the Captain before looking at the screen again, "and we have these two alien ships just waiting. They have their shields up, and weapons locked on us in case we try evacuating civilians."

"I see." Gerak said as he looked at the screen as well.

"Sir," said O'Brien as the Captain turned to look at him, "our long range-communications are still off, and… oh?"

"Oh?" asked the Major as she heard a beep coming from the Chief's console.

"I have short-range communications, but the long range comms are being blocked."

"You sound surprised," said the Major.

"Because we didn't do anything, Benjamin," said Dax as she worked on her console, "I think the two ships lifted the block on the short-range communications protocols. But now… hold on… right now the ships are emitting some kind of a dispersal pattern around the stations and… oh no."

"Dax?" asked the Captain as Dr. Bashir rushed to the young woman and then looked at her console. Dax then looked up at the Captain and said that their transporters were being blocked by the dispersal pattern. "We won't be able to beam out civilians, or beam in people in case we're boarded by these aliens, or the Cardassians."

"What are they planning?" asked the Major as she looked at Dax.

"And we can't send any messages," said the Chief Engineer, "only receive communications."

"They know they can see us, now they know we can hear communications between ships," said the perplexed Captain, "and they blocked our transporters. They want us to see, listen, and be unable to do anything about what's about to happen next."

"Sir," said O'Brian as he looked up from his console, "the fleet's here." Everyone in the Control Room, and people near the viewports on the Promenade, watched four Starfleet vessels followed by twenty Klingon cruisers and battleships, and four Romulan and four Vulcan ships come out of Warp. The fleet then defensively surrounded the station while facing the two silent ships.

The Bajorans who were at the viewports, as well as the other Federation citizens, together with Odo, Worf, and the security officers watched out of the viewports at the force that was facing the mysterious ships. However, their worlds fell when the two ships started to open fire at the Federation Alliance ships without any provocations. Worf watched in stunned silence, as did the others in the Command Center, and the ones watching out of the viewports as orange plasma blasts hit one of the Federation ships. The shields flared for an instant before it collapsed, and the blast went on through the rear of the ship. The saucer section was sent careening off course before another blast destroyed it. The other vessels began evasive manoeuvres while firing at the Goa'uld ships while Captain Sisko listened to the Captain of the Lexington order an evacuation just before it exploded.

"Lock onto the two pyramid ships and fire all weapons," ordered the Captain as the fleet called for the Captain, but he was unable to respond. There were also cries for teleportation coordinates from various other ships… however, all the Captain and the crew of the station could do was watch helplessly as one ship after another was destroyed. The weapons from the Station and the ships did impact the two Goa'uld ships as the phasers and torpedoes impacted the shields. However, the Ori enhanced shielding withstood the barrage of weapons fire while returning fire.

Everyone watched helplessly as the Romulans lost three ships while the fourth had warped away from the carnage. In addition, the Vulcan's lost all their ships in the opening salvo, all the Starfleet ships were destroyed, and all twenty of the Klingon ships were destroyed. All while reducing the shields of the two Ha'tak class ships to ninety five percent.

Everyone who saw the massacre was dejected before they turned and trudged back to their quarters while their hearts fell. There were debris and bodies floating in space as DS9 stopped firing phasers and torpedoes after an order by Captain Sisko. Everyone in the Control Room was silent at the horror that just happened out in space when a voice came over the speakers.

"All who wish harm on Lord Ba'al, all those who wish to claim his property and those of his followers will be turned to dust," said the voice, "you will surrender to the Cardassians, and then everyone will bow down to Lord Ba'al. We know there are forty more enemy ships coming, and we will destroy them as well. You will watch our wrath strike down all who do not wish to follow Lord Ba'al and his queen."

"The Andorian ships," said the Captain as he glared at the two Ha'tak class ships.

"And we have no way of warning them," said Dax as she looked up from her console and stared at the Captain before looking back down at her console following a beep, "sir, we have a message from Nog. Jake's helping in guiding the civilians to their respective quarters."

"Prepare all security personnel," said the Captain nodding his head, "we have to be prepared for a Cardassian incursion."

"Odo and Worf are on it, sir," said Major Kira.

"And get through their jamming," said the Captain at Dax and O'Brian, "I want to send a message to the Andorians. Message is to back off until we have a plan. We just saw over thirty ships destroyed without any resistance. We don't need more people dead without any way to fight back."

"On it," said O'Brien.

"Major," said the Captain. He wanted to keep Major Kira busy with work, mainly because he needed her clear headed. He understood her devastation at the presumed loss of her homeworld, but Sisko needed her to be calm and collected right now.. And the best way was to find how to drain the shields of these two ships.

"Understood," said the Major nodding her head.

"Mr. Gerak," said the Captain, "help Major Kira."

At that order every Cardassian looked at Sisko wondering how he could ask their enemy to join them in this moment. Especially after what the Cardassians had just done. And as if he read their thoughts, the Captain looked at everyone in the Command Center, especially at the Bajorans, saying that all of them were in danger. And all of them needed to work together to live through the coming storm, "Mr. Gerak! Help Major Kira. And Major? Work together with the man so that we can save each other."

"With me, Gerak," said Major Kira as she tried to hide her disgust, "after we come through this alive. You and I…"

"I will leave you to your grief," said Gerak as he bowed his head before following the Major while Sisko looked on and shook his head. HE hoped that they could work together and find a way to beat the alien ships. Or else DS9 would fall.

Again.

But this time, all of them were going to pay.

**Control Room, Deep Space Nine, ten minutes before Atlantis is due to leave Lantea.**

The Andorian fleet was utterly destroyed. Pieces of ships floated in space with the earlier debris from the Allied fleet that was destroyed by the two pyramid shaped ships. Sisko and the others in the Command Center, as well as over three hundred remaining people stationed all around the large station comprised of Bajorans who used to be part of Bajoran anti-Cardassian forces during the occupation of Bajor, Starfleet officers who were on leave in the station, Federation civilians who already had military training, and the station's own security forces led by Odo and Worf. All of them had watched the destruction of the Andorian ships.

And now, everyone looked on as three more Pyramid ships accelerated out of sub-space and hung in space with the earlier two ships.

"How many torpedoes do we have left?" asked the Captain.

"Four thousand," said O'Brian.

"The Cardassians are three minutes out," said Dax as the Captain, with Major Kira by his side, glared at the five ships on the view screen. They had fired everything they had, with the forty now-destroyed Andorian ships, at the two pyramid ships to little effect. With combined and sustained firepower from the ships and the station, the shield of the two ships went down to nearly ninety percent. However, the two Pyramid ships refused to fire upon the Andorians and the station… at least until their shields were down to ninety percent. To the Captain, it felt as if the two Pyramid ships were playing with the Federation fleet.

Once the two ships opened fire, all the Andorian vessels were destroyed with one shot each. One of the blasts even caused the stations' shields to collapse as it impacted the barriers, collapsed it, and then continued on until it hit Pylon Three. The resulting explosion in the immediate areas of the plasma impact resulted in a few deaths before shields were put in place, and Dr. Bashir was sent to take care of any survivors.

A few minutes later, the two Pyramid ships were joined by three more vessels, bringing the total to five. And with the Cardassians only a few minutes away, Sisko ordered everyone on the station to prepare themselves.

**Atlantis, Conference Room. Over thirty-eight minutes since the Stargate was activated on Earth.**

Willow, Vala, Janeway, Daniel, Mackay, and General O'Neill were soon joined by Teal'c who was already in his armour and arrived in tow with several Chulak class ships in orbit, Thor, Dawn, Buffy, Faith, Hailey, Jon, Apollo, and Lisa. The latter welcomed Janeway in person to Atlantis for the first time before saying that she hoped it would have been under better circumstances. Janeway nodded her head before turning back to looked at the image of the Stargate on the presidio as more and more Kull Warriors walked though while a running stopwatch underneath the image counted down from ten seconds.

"We have a problem," said General O'Neill when the countdown passed 'zero' but the Stargate in the Presidio was still active.

"Yep," answered Willow looking at the hologram.

"Plan B?" asked General O'Neill at Willow.

"Plan B?" asked Janeway as Willow sighed and nodded her head.

"Buffy, Faith," said Willow looking at her best friend and her wife respectively standing on the other side of the hologram emitting pedestal in black armour with a green crystal on their chests, and the long cylindrical weapon on their hips, "how many Slayers do we have?"

"Two hundred waiting in the Jumper bay," said Faith, "they're ready to be beamed up to our ships heading for Earth."

"We got another hundred and fifty coming in, Will," said Buffy, "but Giles said that the rest are still needed to put down a few Wraith hold-outs. The hundred and fifty can be spread onto the other ships."

"Two hundred Slayers on Earth should be enough," Faith said, "how many Kull warriors we got?"

"I'm sorry," said the Captain, "what exactly are Slayers? You've mentioned this word many times but every time I ask for an explanation, its pushed to another time."

"Everything's going to be explained later, Captain," said Willow at the expression of impatience on Janeway's face, "I promise."

Janeway sighed before she turned to Faith.

"Last count?" asked Janeway as she remembered what Andrew had said when he updated them in the situation in Starfleet Command, "over two thousand."

"Civilians?" asked Buffy.

"Protocol is to evacuate civilians to designated shelters," said the Captain, "it was something we prepared for after the Xindi launched an unprovoked attack on Earth hundreds of years ago. So, I'd assume that the Federation Security Services have begun to guide civilians in San Francisco and Oakland to these shelters."

"Then that would reduce civilian casualties," said Willow as she leaned on the pedestal after placing her hands on the surface. The Hologram automatically turned off while Willow looked at Buffy and Faith, and took in a deep breath. "Buff, Faith, I need you to form fifteen squads of twenty Slayers each. I want the two of you to lead two squads, and select leaders you trust for the other thirteen. Those fifteen squads are heading for Earth on the Vantage and Persephone. I want the other Slayers to be divided into groups that would be boarding the Galactica, Atlantia, Pegasus, Scorpion, and the Pieces. Admiral Adama, I'd like each one of the Kobolian Battlestars over Vulcan, Andoria, Betazed, and Tellar Prime in case the enemy, particularly the Goa'uld, have landed Kull Warriors on the surface."

"Understood," said Apollo nodding his head, "and we'll be getting some of the Daedalus class ships as well?"

"Yep," said Willow, "I want the Galactica joining the attack on Earth. The Vipers and the Arrows would be needed in case Ba'al released death gliders. All in all, at least for Earth, we'll have Atlantis, Voyager, and the Galactica. We'll be joined by twenty O'Neill class Asgard ships, twenty five Chulak class vessels from the FJN, three Tollan ships, and all of our forty Aurora class ships."

"And if there are no Kulls on the surface of the Federation worlds according to our scans?" asked Jon.

"Then we fight against the Goa'uld ships in orbit of those planets, and anyone else who attacks us," said Willow, "but we'll have troops and Slayers on the surface only if the authorities ask for aid."

"If the Breen and Cardassians have landed their troops, then I have a feeling they'll ask for aid," Janeway added.

Willow nodded her head before turning to Jon, Teal'c, and Apollo again, "Jon, Admiral, Teal'c, Thor, I'd like for you guys to divide the other ships so that they could head out to the Key Federation planets."

"Understood," said Apollo nodding his head.

"Very well, General," said Thor.

"And we're getting fourteen of the Orban-Tollan medical ships which are heading for Bajor," said General O'Neill, "those need to be protected too."

"Understood," said Jon.

"And Deep Space Nine?" asked Janeway.

"A fleet of Daedalus class ships will be heading to DS9," said Willow as she recalled the group watching the destruction of the Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Vulcan fleet. The sensors from the Midway station had shown them the forty Andorian ships heading to the station, as well as the fleet of Cardassian warships. And Janeway had already told her that the crew of the station faced a great deal of danger from the Cardassians should they board the station. "Those Daedalus class ships will have Spec Ops teams combined with six groups of four Slayers. All of them will work with the Starfleet personnel to subdue any Cardassian and-or Kull threat on the station while the ships take care of the Goa'uld and Cardassian ships."

"Got it," said Buffy nodding her head.

"We'll head out, Red," said Faith as Willow nodded her head. While Buffy and Faith rushed out, Willow then turned to General O'Neill saying that they needed to infiltrate Ba'al's mothership and get him out alive so that they could question him on the location of any other Goa'uld bases.

"And I'll be heading out with you in case Adria's on the ship," said Willow. It was then that Vala responded by saying that she was going too. At which Daniel and Teal'c joined in voicing their intention to head for the ship.

"And Atlantis?" asked Dawn as Janeway looked on.

"You were the Administrator before the war started, Dawn," said Willow as she remembered Dawn willingly stepping aside as Willow was selected to oversee a combined Tau'ri Fleet. "It's your right to step back in after I retire. In fact, I was gonna recommend you take back your place as Administrator of Atlantis."

"Got it," said Dawn, "but you do know that you are in command of the whole fleet. Technically, you should be on Atlantis."

"It's my prerogative," said Willow, "besides, with Adria on Ba'al's ship… I'm needed on the Vantage more than here."

"Fine," sighed Dawn as she frowned at Willow before looking at the hologram again, "I suggest we send a ship to the Omega site."

"Omega site?" asked Janeway.

"A base secured with biometric and….. lets say Unique… locks that contains items that have the potential to end all life on Earth," said Willow nodding at Janeway before turning to Dawn, "you mean the Ark?"

"It will work on Adria, right?" asked Dawn.

"It should," said Vala with a feeling of hope gripping her heart, "it actually could."

"Ark?" asked Janeway.

"The Ark of Truth," said General O'Neill, "a device created by an ancient race that's supposed to make people believe what is the truth. And all this boils back to the Ori. I know that you have a lot of questions, Captain. And I know we haven't been forthcoming with telling you and your crew the details of what we're talking about. We could talk about those and waste time explaining things to you, or we could finish planning this attack in the limited time we have left, and then save Earth and the galaxy."

"We save Earth and the galaxy."

"Now," said Willow as she looked at everyone, "we have less than thirty minutes to prepare, for General Carter to finish the simulation, and then we leave."

"Let's get going then," said Dawn rubbing her hands.

**USS Voyager, Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy, an hour after Ba'al's ship appeared over Earth initialy.**

"Doctor," said Seven as she sat up on the bio-bed before turning around and staring at the Doctor, "Dr. Fraiser did say this new body had no problems."

"I know," the Doctor nodded his head as he looked at the former drone, and now cloned human being, "but I still feel better examining you using the equipment on Voyager."

"And what have you found?"

"You're doing…," trailed the Doctor as he picked up his tricorder and fumbled around with the buttons before looking up at Seven once again, "fine. In fact, this new body has no problems I could detect."

"I think this is where I say, 'I told you so'," said Seven with an eyebrow arched upwards. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her before walking to a console in the middle of the infirmary and placing the medical tricorder back on its dock. At the same time, he glanced at his mobile emitter and was slightly envious of Seven having a human body. He had longed to feel anything ranging from emotions to the tactile sensation of simply touching the console in front of him. Everything he was feeling right now were as a result of his programming and his sub-routines… and so he longed to feel truly human.

And wondered if the Tau'ri could help him. Of course, he would have to be given permission by Starfleet itself, and he was aware that if he were to somehow procure a human body… then it would open a new can of worms within the Federation itself. Shaking his head, he turned to Seven getting off the bed, and onto her feet while she looked down her sleeved arms and shoulders. She then looked up at the smiling Doctor before putting her hands behind her back, as she usually would, and asked him if there was something funny.

"Nothing at all, Seven," said the Doctor smiling as he walked towards her, "you've been given something that any normal human would rarely get, another chance at life."

"I was already given a chance at a new life when I was freed from the Borg."

"Think of this as being free from the former drone," said the Doctor, "Seven, your body is no able to process regular food.. which reminds me that I need to create a plan for you. We wouldn't want you to jump into the deep end just yet. We'll start off slow, and then we'll get to normal food. And of course, you need sleep. So, the Captain needs to assign you to some quarters."

"I am aware," said Seven who was already missing her alcove. It was the only way she knew how to regenerate; so having the need to go to sleep was something new for her. She suspected that she'd have to deal with a plethora of new emotions over the next few days. Just before Seven was about to open her mouth, the doors to the infirmary slid open and Captain Janeway strode in by herself.

"Doctor," said Janeway, "I take it that Seven's doing well enough to go back to her duties?"

"Yes," the Doctor said nodding his head.

"Captain?" asked Seven as she turned, her long blonde hair swaying as she moved, "what assignment would you like for me to perform."

"Seven," said Janeway as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "I know this is a time to celebrate your new life as a full human being; but for right now, I need your expertise in the Astrometrics lab. The Stargate is still active in San Francisco, and the General thinks that Ba'al is using something to keep on powering the Stargate sending these Kull Warriors though the device." The Captain then went on to explain the Kull Warriors and the plan to save Earth while Seven looked on impressed once she heard about the Wormhole drive. Seven and the Doctor's expression also then turned to surprise upon hearing an entire Andorian fleet destroyed in the defence of Deep Space Nine by five Goa'uld ships just before over forty Cardassian ships arrived on the scene. "The station managed to destroy three ships, but the Station took damage. From what we can tell, the weapons have stopped firing before the Cardassian ships started to dock."

"They have boarded the Station," said Seven knowingly.

"The Starfleet officers? The Bajorans? The civilians?" asked the Doctor before clarifying if they were safe. To that, the Captain shook her head saying that no one was sure what was happening to them not even the Tau'ri.

The Captain then told them about the over three hundred ships in orbit of Pluto, including Ba'al's mothership, that were prepared to make a move towards Earth in a few minutes. "We're leaving in two minutes."

"I will return to my station, Doctor," said Seven nodding at the Hologram before walking past him, and then the Captain who then walked out with the former drone. Just as the doors hissed open, the Captain turned around with a foot in the hallway to tell the Doctor that once the battle began, we were going to be plenty on injuries."

"I'll be ready, Captain," said the Doctor nodding his head. The Captain then walked out in a hurry while the Doctor remained alone in sick-bay and whispered to himself, "here we go into the breach."

**Stargate Operations, Atlantis.**

"Careful, Will" said Dawn just Before Willow was teleported to the Vantage which would became the Tau'ri Alliance flagship. Dawn then sighed and turned to the seven people in Stargate Operations who were standing behind their consoles. "Connect me to the chair-room."

"Done, ma'am," said one of the technician.

"Major Bartlet," said Dawn over the radio as she talked to the young woman in the chair room, "are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," was the reply.

"Emergency team," said Dawn over headpiece to the four people in the power room who were wearing emergency suits that would protect them from the vacuum of space, "are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," said one of the four men who then turned to the others and reminded them to activate their magnetic boots. Pressing a button on their left tight, their boots became magnetized and held onto the floor. The group them picked up the four cases of three ZPM's each that stood alongside each of them as they nodded at each other.

"Contact Voyager," said Dawn, "have them fire up their engines, inertial dampeners, environmental systems, and life support systems."

"Contacting them," said another technician who then looked at the screen behind him, and then back at Dawn saying that they were ready.

"Ok," said Dawn before sighing as she nodded her head, "activate the shield and wrap it around Stargate Operations."

"Done," said a technician as a field of orange energy surrounded the Operations section.

"Activate the Stardrive. Stand-by with the wormhole drive," said Dawn. A few seconds later, the engines beneath the city glowed a blue hue as the city shook slightly. Everyone on Atlantis and Voyager held onto something as the city jerked before it began to rise off the surface of the ocean. The Voyager crew were transfixed as they watched the city rising while they were still parked on the pier. It would be a few seconds later that the city-ship flew up into space which was when the Voyager crew saw the sight of a fleet that comprised a portion of the Pegasus Alliance.

A hundred and fifty ships were making room for Atlantis at the center of the fleet. It wasn't long before the giant city-ship made it's way through the fleet and stopped at the middle. It was then that Dawn contacted Willow and said that the Wormhole Drive was ready to be activated.

"All vessels," said Willow as she stood on the bridge of the Vantage while Jon was seated at the command chair, "you know your assignments. This will be the final battle between us, the Goa'uld, and the Ori. We'll help free the galaxy from their threat, and then we come home to do what we were meant to do. What those who came before wanted to do. Explore."

Willow then sighed before looked out the massive viewport in front of her.

"Atlantis, activate the wormhole drive."

"Activating, Willow," said Dawn.

"Jump," said Willow before the entire fleet was surrounded by a grey shimmering sphere of energy that emanated from Atlantis herself. The ball of energy then collapsed in on itself in a flash of bright white light. In the end, the fleet was gone, leaving behind the four stations over Lantea as six Avalon class ships jumped out of hyperspace to protect the planet below.

TBC.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Just outside the Milky Way.**

Just outside the outer arms of the Milky Way galaxy, space rippled before it tore open in a bright flash of white light. Once the light faded, a hundred and fifty ships of the Pegasus Alliance appeared with the city-ship Atlantis in the middle. On Voyager, still parked on one of the piers, Janeway and several others in the crew leaned forward while trying their best not to throw up at the feeling of having their stomachs stretched and twisted for milliseconds before arriving at their current location.

"I think I'm going to be sick," said Kim as he looked down at his console while trying to keep the lump forming in his throat from travelling upwards. He then shook his head before looking to Tuvok, who was leaning on his arms as they rested on the console in front of him. It was then that Paris, in a muffled voice, called for the Captain while asked her to look out the view screen.

Everyone in the bridge, Kim included, looked up and saw the edge of the Milky Way galaxy laid out in front of them. Seven confirmed, a few seconds later in a tired voice, that they were at the extreme outer edge of one of the galactic arms.

"Seven?" asked Janeway who was worried about her newly human crewmember. The former drone's voice concerned her, and so she asked the doctor to look in on Seven.

"I am fine, Captain," the young woman insisted while the Doctor said that he was on the way. "All hundred and fifty ships are present and accounted for."

"So that's what a space-folding jump drive feels like," groaned Chakotay as he leaned back and looked at Janeway. There was then a beep from the helm before Paris said that they were receiving a message from Atlantis.

"Captain Janeway, stand by for full shield extension," said Dawn as she stood in the shielded Stargate Operations while the Emergency teams were replacing the ZPM's. One of them ooned one of the cases, and opened the cover. Since there was no atmosphere and artificial gravity in the power room, the three ZPM's had to be strapped in to their recesses. The man took out one of the ZPM's while two others held the case down on the pedestal while the fourth one pressed a button at the base that slowly ejected one of the devices. She then took it out and stepped back as the suited man walked over to her location, and placed the ZPM into t he recess, and then pushed it in before continuing towards the other two ZPM's.

"We're ready, Mrs. O'Neill," said Janeway just as the final ZPM was locked, and then gently pushed down into the pedestal in the Power Room. Dawn nodded at one of the technicians, who then pressed a button before the Atlantis shield activated. The Captain and the others saw the orange field form up from the outer piers, covering the entire city before the shield in Stargate Operations and the Chair room were disengaged.

"Tuvok," said Janeway as she stood up and looked out the view screen as several Pegasus Alliance ships went off into hyperspace for their individual assignments, "load torpedoes, and charge phasers. I want us to get into the fight immediately after reaching Earth."

"All weapons are ready," said the Vulcan as Paris turned and told the bridge crew that he was receiving a message from Willow; the fleet heading to Earth was ready to move off.

"ETA, fifteen minutes," he said as Janeway took in a deep breath before nodding her head. She told Paris to send an acknowledgment that they were indeed ready. A few seconds after Paris sent the message, the remaining Pegasus Alliance fleet entered numerous hyperspace Windows on their way to Earth. Now, all Janeway saw was the blue and white Hyperspaces tunnel as she got up and asked Chakotay and Tuvok to join her in her ready room.

"Harry, you have the bridge," the Captain said as Kimm moved away from his operations station, which was quickly taken up by another officer, and headed for the Captain's chair while Janeway, Tuvok, and Chakotay walked into the Ready Room.

**Orbit of Pluto, an hour later.**

With the doomsday weapon clocked and deposited closed to the Sun, Ba'al was standing by his queen and looking out at the stars and hundreds of ships that were gathered around them in addition to their own. He was surrounded by the Breen and Cardassian ships, all of whom were revelling in the potential downfall of Earth and as such, the beginning of the end for the Federation. However, there was one other thing that was weighing in Ba'al's mind- the fact that the Tau'ri still hasn't arrived to protect their homeworld. He then shook his head before thinking to himself that it didn't matter, that the hour was already up and the Cardassian and Breen ships around them were itching to head to Earth and demand their surrender.

"My queen," Ba'al sad as he looked at the possessed Adria, "you must leave for Earth to the location of their much-vaunted Federation Council. I am certain that they are still deliberating whether to surrender or fight back against us, I want you to ensure that they surrender."

"Of course, my Lord," said Qetesh before she turned and started to walk away. Ba'al looked at her walk away before he turned back to watching the stars out the view port in the bridge.

Qetesh walked through the hallways with her head held high as reflected in her status as Ba'al's queen. She was heading for the hanger bay where she would take an Al'Kesh, and head for the location known as Paris; the seat of government for the Federation Council. The plan was to 'convince' them to surrender; but if she was unsuccessful, Ba'al had told her to eliminate all of the leaders before he and the other ships would begin firing on the Federation vessels.

He and Qetesh knew, from their sensors, that over four hundred other ships were heading for Earth space, and that they would be there within five minutes. According to his sensors, the ships consisted of ships from various races… but there were no Tau'ri. They still hadn't come.

As Qetesh continued to walk past her Jaffa, who stepped aside and bowed their heads in reverence, she could feel Adria pushing back against her control of the body. The Goa'uld symbiote knew it had full control of the body, but the fact that Adria herself, her consciousness, was pushing back was a slight concern. The push back started to get more furious in the past few minutes while waiting for the Tau'ri to arrive.

'You do not get your vengeance, Ori.' Qetesh mentally addressing Adria's consciousness. 'Fight all you want, I have control of your body and mind. I know what you know, and I can do what you can do. Now be a good girl and remain silent.'

Qetesh mentally pushed back Adria into a dark corner of her mind as she entered the Al'Kesh. Qetesh told the Jaffa at the door to close it while she headed for the bridge. Once there, she told the Jaffa to cloak the vessel, and then take them to Earth. "This is the location."

The coordinates that she keyed in was for what was supposed to be a heavily guarded compound in Paris, France. IT was the emergency meeting place for the Federation Council, a back-up location should an attack be launched directly on Starfleet Headquarters. Once the location was locked onto the computer, the Al-Kesh left the hanger bay and pas went past all the ships from the Breen and the Cardassians. As the Al'Kesh opened a Hyperspace window that would take it to the other side of Earth, Qetesh felt pity for the Cardassians and the Breen… once the Federation fell, those two races would be fully subjugated as well.

**Deep Space Nine, at that same time.**

With the five alien pyramid ships still hanging in space, Captain Sisko and the others in his were watching them while the Security personnel, Starfleet Security, former Bajoran militia, and any civilian with basic training on a phaser were in running battles with the Cardassians who boarded the station only a few minutes ago. Already, there were twelve casualties from the Station personnel while only forty Cardassians fell. However, there were more and more entering the station.

"Computer," said Sisko as he rolled his hands into fists, "activate self-destruct on my command."

"Self-Destruct inoperable," the Computer said in returned with Dax checking her console and saying that the destruction of the Number Three Pylon must have done something to take the self-destruct off-line.

"Captain Sisko," said a voice over the communications system… a voice he recognized from the address earlier just before the destruction of Bajor. The Captain looked at the Major while Legate Broca calmly asked him to surrender the station to the Cardassians while more and more of his men were boarding the station. Many of them were headed for the Control Center and the Habitat Rings; but they were met by resistance. "There had already been too much death. I swear that all the in habitants of the station will be treated well, including the emissary of the Prophets."

"Captain!" yelled Worf over another communication line, "we have been breached, I am pulling our forces back, and…."

Worf's voice vanished as everyone looked at each other in concern. It was Odo who seconds later replied that Worf was injured, and he had ordered the others personnel away to meet the coming Cardassians head-on near Quark's bar. The Ferrengi had left while leaving his brother, Rom, to join up with the resistance against the invaders.

"Legate," said Sisko, "I will surrender to you as long as the Bajorans and the civillians are allowed to leave the station unharmed and…."

"You do not have any space to negotiate, Captain," the Legate said over the communications channel from his own flagship, "I have over a thousand men… soldiers all… and we will continue to board our station. To us, you are the invaders, and you will be taken care off. Now, Captain, surrender or else my men who are heading to the habitat ring will shoot to kill any and all civilians."

In the meantime, Odo was hit by phaser fire form the Cardassians while attempting to move the unconscious body of Worf. The Changeling was pushed back, his solid body in pain as ten more Cardassians joined in to fire at him. The Captain, knowing that his people were surrounded, surrendered just as Odo liquefied his body and retreated into the station itself. The Captain, in the meantime, slammed his hand into the console in front of him before looking helplessly at the despondent Major Kira.

He wanted to fight. Just as he knew that the Major and everyone else wanted to fight. However, they were outnumbered, outgunned, and had too many civilians in the line of fire. His hope was that Starfleet would send reinforcements. But given the fact that the Station couldn't send out any distress calls,the Captain knew that it was very possible that they were going to be alone in what was about to happen next.

But he still needed to do something. Even though he surrendered, he needed to do something to at least fight back.

"Dax," said the Captain, "order everyone to put their weapons down and surrender."

"Ben…."

"Do it," Sisko ordered once again before telling her to contact Dr. Bashir on a scrambled frequency. He then turned to Kira and asked her to contact Odo while having O'Brien access the life-support sub-routines so that it could be separated from the Command functions of the station, "you have two minutes. Go!" O'Brien nodded his head before going to work while Kira left a message for Odo in one of the Communications buffers which would relay the message to him once he was a solid again. Sisko then pressed on his comm-badge and asked Dr. Bashir if he had encountered any Cardassians as yet.

"No, sir," he whispered.

"Listen to me very carefully," said the Captain, "I don't care how you and Odo do it, but I want the both of you to flood the entire station with Anesthizine Gas. Use a breathing apparatus on yourself and Odo so that you two don't get knocked out."

"Understood," said the Doctor as he examined several of the dead bodies in the hallway thanks to the explosion that destroyed the section. The doctor then told Sisko to have Odo meet him in one of the medical cargo bays once the latter regained solid form. Sisko then looked at Kira who nodded her head after relaying that message to Odo.

It was then that the turbolift started to whirr. And the Captain closed off all communications with Bashir and Odo while telling Dax to hide their life signs. Dax worked as fast as possible to hide Bashir who, before being cut off, said that it would take nearly an hour to find enough of the gas, vent it through the life support system, and then render everyone unconscious. Dax was successful in her mission just as the turbolift reached the Command Center.

"Welcome," said the Captain as he glared at the Legate, "to Deep Space Nine."

"Everyone weapons down!" yelled the Cardassians who used the turbolift, having killed the security personnel, as they entered the Control Room. The Legate approached the Captain while his subordinates roughly handled the personnel, both Starfleet and Bajorans, by pushing them onto the floor and telling them to put their hands over their heads. Sisko noticed Kira, out of the corner of his eye, defiantly staring down a Cardassian who was looming over her.

"Major!" barked the Captain, "stand down. We'll live to fight another day."

"Captain, Captain," said the Legate as he smiled at the Starfleet officer, "there will no more other days to fight. The Federation will fall. Lord Ba'al will give us what we want; becoming a great power just as we were always meant to be."

"There is always hope, Legate," said the Captain.

"And the Prophets have a plan," said the Major as she glared at the Legate.

"Really?" asked the Legate sarcastically, "and where were your Prophets when we destroyed Bajor? Where was your Emissary?" The Legate them turned his gaze to the Captain once again, "and where is your hope?"

"The Federation will fight back. And you have a chance to help… the Cardassians don't have to be the power that betrayed the Alpha Quadrant. The Cardassians can be the power that helped free the galaxy, and…."

"Betrayed the Alpha Quadrant?" chuckled the Legate before shaking his head, "we're going to remake the Alpha Quadrant. First with the Klingon homeworld, and then our ships will proceed to take back the Bajoran colonies into our arms once again."

"We'll fight you… we won before," said Kira while her hands were rolled into fists.

"Now you have no Bajor, nothing to rally towards. Face it, Major, you are a hopelessly finished race," the Legate said, "but don't worry. We'll make sure you find a sense of community in our labour camps."

The Legate then walked away while Kira, an enraged Major, was pushed to the floor and had a foot pressed down on her back by a Cardassian. It was the same with the Captain as the Legate looked around, and then ordered them to "find the Changeling, and the Klingon." The Legate then looked down at the Captain who hand his hands over his head, "I'm going to publicly execute any and all Klingons on the station. And you will have a place in the front row."

**USS Enterprise, at that same moment.**

"Ensign?" asked Picard as he, Commander Riker, and Admiral Paris walked onto the bridge of the Federation flagship, "are they on the way?" The Captain knew that an hour had just passed by with the Federation Council having come to a decision in Paris; they were not going to surrender to Ba'al, the Cardassians, or the Breen. Picard and the captains of the other ships had been informed that even the Romulans knew that the Federation was needed to keep the quadrant stable, that if the Federation was able to fall, then the Empire would fall as well.

So, as a show of unity, the Romulans were sending a fleet of over a hundred ships to Earth. Ships that should reach the planet in only a few minutes after the call was made over forty minutes ago. They were pulling their fleet from the front lines of the Dominion War thanks to reports on how the Jem'hader were reacting; they had killed themselves after releasing wails of grief. No Romulan knew what was happening, but there were no complaints.

It would be several minutes later that Starfleet received a transmission from Betazed stating the same occurrences. The Jem'Hader soldiers screamed wails of anguish before killing themselves. However, the transmission was made on a frequency rarely used by the Federation, and attached to the message were images of the same armoured beings that were invading Starfleet Headquarters attacking civilians and military personnel in Betazed's main cities.

"Yes, sir," said Ensign Perim as she looked over her shoulder, and then back at the view screen, which showed the over three hundred ships going to warp before appeared in orbit of the moon. Everyone in the fleet looked out at the gigantic vessel behind all the others. Picard then pressed his comm-badge and talked to Data, who was in engineering assisting in the remodulation of the shield and weapons while making sure that Josie wasn't in too much danger.

He was surprised when data came back to the ship and reported on the woman he and Laforge met; and that surprise was soon muted so that they could find a way to strengthen the shields on the Enterprise and the other ships.

"How is she, Data?"

"She has neutralized thirty of these beings in the past forty minutes, and covered the escape of over a hundred Starfleet personnel onto escape shuttles. She is exhausted, but insisting on moving ahead to Starfleet Operations where we have over two hundred people trapped."

"Send shuttles to that location, Mr. Data," said Picard just as Ensign Perim turned and told the Captain that she was getting a hail from the giant ship.

"It's just like the other ship, Captain," whispered Troi wrapping her arms around her body as she shudder while standing next to Riker. She felt a chill go up her spine before saying, "the ship that beamed down the ring. So much hate from the Goa'uld."

"Given that the Tau'ri supposedly wiped them out?" said Riker with a frown as he glared at the view screen, "I'd say that they must be pissed."

"No.. it's more than that," said Troi shaking her head as she visibly shuddered, "anger…. An anger that goes much deeper and… and there's something else." Troi then asked the Operations officer if there were any cloaked ships before turning towards the view screen once again as the reinforcements of the Andorian, Romulan, Klingon, and Starfleet vessels arrived and took positions around the planet.

"There's no cloaked ships, ma'am," said the officer while the Captain asked Troi what she sensed.

"A ship's heading for Earth," was the reply, "and… and this hatred is so deep. It's…"

"Counsellor?"

"So much anger… so much darkness and hate," said Troi as she looked at the captain while, unknowingly, feeling the emotions of Qetesh as her cloaked ship flew through the atmosphere.

"Sir?" said the Ensign, "we're being hailed again."

"On screen," said Picard who looked on expressionless at Ba'al, "my name is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and…"

"I only have one question, Captain," said Ba'al interrupting the bald man, "do you surrender? Does your vaunted Federation Council surrender?"

"No," said Admiral Paris while Data watched Josie fight while using the sensors on the Enterprise, "we will not surrender. Ba'al, perhaps there could be a peace between our peoples.. between the Federation and the Goa'uld, and…"

"My dear Admiral," laughed Ba'al while shaking his head before he said, "I'm not here to make peace. I am here to rule." Ba'al then took a deep breath before saying that there was going to be no negotiations. He then nodded to someone off-screen, and turned back to looking at the Captain and Admiral just as there was a whining sound on the bridge. The senior staff stepped back in surprise as Ensign Perim brought a hand over her mouth at the bloody body of Captain Jellico which was deposited in a flash of light.

"Bridge to Crusher," yelled the Captain as he rushed over to the bloodied man lying on their floor, "medical emergency!"

"He cried while my queen dug into his mind," said Ba'al with a smug look on his face as Riker turned to glare at the man, "he didn't want to give up everything he knew… which made it a more satisfying experience for Qetesh. In the end, he was still loyal even when we destroyed everything he was. He still refused to give up everything… so my queen punished him. Now, that is what will happen to the humans on Earth… to all aliens on Earth who do not bow down to me. Give me and my queen your allegiance, and you live your life."

"Under your rule," said Riker as Crusher and her medical team rushed out of the turbolift, and went for the the body.

"We'll fight you," said the Admiral shaking his head, "you're facing a fleet comprised of the major powers of the Alpha Quadrant. I am asking you, the Cardassians, and the Breen to leave orbit." Just the, more Starfleet vessels appeared over Earth, taking the total number of ships to a little over six hundred.

"No," said Ba'al with a smirk on his face.

"All ships, this is Admiral Paris. Raise shields, charge phasers and load torpedoes."

"Let the world watch as their defenders fall," said Ba'al as he accessed all Federation communication channels. Every screen on Earth showed the two groups in orbit over Earth ready to battle. Everyone, human and alien, on Earth watched whatever screens they could find show the Cardassian and the Breen attacking first. Many stood in shock while the Breen energy dampening weapons took out several Federation and Romulan ships before they were destroyed by the Cardassians. People watched in stunned silence all over the globe as a few Breen ships were being destroyed, along with Cardassian vessels, while the smaller Pyramid ships proceeded to destroy several Klingon shops which seemed to be immune to the Breen energy weapon.

Minute after minute, people were watching the Allied fleet fall like flies; some ships were listing helplessly while other were breaking up into large chunks. The space above seemed like a floating hellscape as ships weaved in and out of debris, with dead bodies hitting the hulls of ships, while firing at each other.

"Shields at ten percent!" yelled Laforge just before he was slammed against the wall in Engineering. Several people were already injured on the Enterprise, including Guinan, before alarms started to blare all over the ship. The warp core had begun to breach. Data informed the bridge of what was happening- that they had to eject the warp core or else the ship would be destroyed.

"Do we have transporters!," yelled Riker who was bleeding from the sides of his mouth as he took over for the injured Ensign Perim. The bridge was nearly destroyed, with broken panels on many of the screens as Troi and Crusher were helped the injured, including Captain Picard who was bleeding from he side of his head after knocking it against a console following three successive phaser bursts from the Cardassians that violently shook the ship. It threw everyone every which way, and caused hull breaches on three decks.

"Just barely, Commander!" said Data as he took over for Laforge while he was being taken to sickbay.

"Transport the drive to the middle of the Cardassian fleet," ordered Riker was he glared at the half-shattered view-screen which only showed a small part of the battle, "now!"

The Warp Core was teleported to space where it violently exploded in the middle of a Cardassian battle group that was attacking several Andorian and Starfleet vessels. The explosion destroyed four of the Cardassian ships since their shields were already depleted thanks to constant attacks. The Allied ships, at least those that still had power, continued the fight while the Enterprise struggled on at impulse, and with secondary power.

**Starfleet Command, several minutes later.**

Back on the surface, Josie found herself flying through a plate glass window, and falling two stories to a pool below. It was only minutes ago that she had finished directing several officers to a stairwell that would take them to the ground floor, which was already cleared when she killed the six Kull warriors guarding it while the others were sweeping through the building. She then killed the ones on the first floor before leading the survivors to a stairwell, which would then lead them to the awaiting shuttles. She then ran up to the second floor where officers were being attacked. Josie cut down the Kull Warriors, allowing the officers to escape. Panting as she stood over the bodies of the dead Kull warriors, Josie yelled at the officers to leave just as the door she had come through swung open to more Kull Warriors coming towards her. Turning around, Josie's shield took the blasts from the plasma repeaters while she rushed at the Kull Warriors.

She killed three of them while the computer in the device generating the shield told her the shield was at fifty percent just as ten more Kull warriors entered the hallway. Josie was about to turn around and retreat just as she was sucker punched by one of the warriors while the others fired on her.

"Twenty percent," the voice of the Computer said as she stepped back under the barrage of the weapons fire hitting the shield in front of her. She then heard 'thuds' from behind and looked over her should to see ten more Kull warriors coming from behind her. She believed they were coming from the floor above, and hoped that the officers were able to run away thanks to her distraction. But she was now surrounded and, as the Warrior's behind her raised their arms, Josie knew she needed to get out. She looked at the windows to the left, and saw the reflecting pool below on the ground floor outside the building. "Ten percent."

Josie swung the Scythe into the window, shattering it, before running sideways and then jumping out the window just as the Kull warrior from behind started to fire at her. She braced herself as she fell two stories into the shallow pool below. She screamed in pain as she broke the surface of the water, and the hit the floor with her left side. She rolled to her back in the pool as her clothes got wet from the water, slowing her down slightly, in addition to the pain radiating throughout her body. She rolled to her right side and screamed as she got up. Her entire left side was in pain while using her right hand to press the commbadge as several shuttles took off while they were being fired upon.

The Slayer couldn't feel the badge, and then she started to look around searching for the device. Suddenly, there where plasma bursts being fired from the second floor, the third floor, the fifth, all the way to the tenth floor targeting her. Her shield lasted for just enough time to grab the Scythe, and then run as fast as she could while limping.

"Computer," said Josie as she watched a few Kull Warrior rush towards her after hearing the sounds of weapons fire, "how much energy is left for the shield?"

"Fifteen percent and charging," the reply came as Josie ducked and rolled away from weapons fire as several more Kull Warriors were rushing towards her. She turned and rushed back at the Warrior while swinging her scythe as more weapons fire hit the shield. Her heart was racing as she cleaved one Warrior after another, watching them fall to the ground before rushing off towards another building. She avoiding as many warriors as possible, but some of them caught sight of her and started to attack. Josie screamed in pain a she changed from limping to running as fast as she could towards cover. Her left side was burning with pain from the fall as she got closer to the building entrance.

However, she screeched to a halt when twenty warrior's rushed out of the building. She stumbled back slightly before she tried to turn and run. However, she found herself on the ground once again. As she struggled to get up on her feet, she watched as thirty more warriors rushed out from another building, and yet more from another building to her left. Josie was panting as she looked around and found herself surrounded with even more of the Kulls rushing towards her.

She gripped the handle of her Scythe as she dashed forward. She was fired on by all sides, with a few hitting the shield, but most caught her on the side. She fell onto the ground, the Scythe clattering on the ground as plasma bursts hit her back, the back of her legs, her arms, and her side. As she lay on the ground in excruciating pain, Josie continued to reach for the Scythe. She heard the thuds of footsteps, and looked up as several of the Warriors surround her before raising their weapons at her.

Josie stared at them as her body started to feel cold. She felt herself shiver when, looking past the Warriors, she saw a dark skinned woman in rags staring back at her. She had two Scythes on her back as she crouched down and looked back at Josie. Tilting her head the woman gave a throaty whisper.

"My successor."

"Suc… successor?" asked Josie as she stared at the woman while laying on her side. One half of her still hurt from the fall, and the other half was burning from the plasma bursts. She believed that the only reason she wasn't dead yet was because she was a Slayer, anyone else would have instantly died. However, she could already feel her body getting weaker… she wanted to close her eyes and rest. But the gaze of the woman was prevented Josie from closing her eyes, there was something familiar about her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "Successor?"

"You have my power. Prove your worth. Fight."

"You… your po.. power?" asked Josie as she closed her eyes in recognition, "the First Slayer. You're the First Slayer."

"You are the first Slayer in generations to face the end," said Sineya as Josie looked on while time seemed to stand still, "I selected the Chosen to stop the end. And the end will come. Stop the gateway, and…."

Josie saw Sineya's eyes widen before she looked up. The Slayer saw a smile form on her face before she stood up, and looked up at the sky. The First Slayer turned her head towards Josie, "Mother has arrived."

**Paris, emergency chambers of the Federation Council, a few seconds ago.**

Adria took her time getting to the Federation Council chambers. She killed each and every security personnel while the Kull Warriors spread through the entire complex following her personal orders to kill each and every one. Bodies littered the floor of the massive underground complex which had dampeners that prevented teleportation for security purposes. But then again, the underground complex was meant to be secure.

While the massacre was taking place in orbit, Qetesh was laughing as she used Adria's powers to kill; even though it was against Ba'al's orders. A few minutes later, Qetesh force two of the remaining security personnel to unlock the secured doors leading to the meeting chamber. Once the doors were opened, she liquefied their brains and then walked in with a smile on her face.

"Why, hello," she said as she stared at the delegated while her Kull Warriors marched into the large chamber. Many of the delegates rose to their feet and demanded an explanation as a screen in the room was showing the destruction of the Allied fleet in orbit of Earth. "Now, surrender."

Even with the presence of Adria and her Jaffa and Kull warriors in the Council chambers, the Federation Council refused to surrender to the Goa'uld. Even after they watched more Allied ships being destroyed, the Council they refused to surrender.

"We will not give up so easily," said Jaresh-Inyo, the Federation President, "we have weathered many storms over the centuries, and we will weather this one."

"And you will grow stronger?" mocked Qetesh as she tilted her head at the President.

"We understand you are angry at the Tau'ri for…" said another council member before he was interrupted.

"The Federation has already fallen, and when the Tau'ri arrive, they will fall as well," said Qetesh as she raised her arm and aimed it at Jaresh-Inyo. She mentally pulled him towards her. His body hit the lectern from which he was making a speech, before floating towards her while the other Federation members were trying to find exits. Exits that were blocked by Kull Warriors. Qetesh then chuckled while she started to mentally choke the President.

"So, no surrender then?" asked Qetesh as she stared at the struggling President. The man was flailing his legs as his entire body hung in the air by an invisible force. While running for dear life, many in the crowd of counsillor's, incuding teh vice-president looked on in fear as the President was struggling for breath while clawing at his own throat; as if he was trying to force away invisible hands chocking him. Suddenly, Qetesh looked towards the ceiling when she felt a familiar presence.

"I knew it," said the possessed former-Orici as she cracked the neck of the Federation President who had only a month left in office, "she's alive. And she's here."

**Orbit of Earth.**

It was a massacre in Earth orbit as over three quarters of the Allied ships were either disabled or destroyed. On the other hand, only fifty of the Cardassian and Breen ships were destroyed. The Pyramid ships destroyed all of the Klingon vessels since the Breen weapons did not seem to affect them, but Ba'al's mothership stayed back and watched the carnage.

"Captain," said Ba'al calmly as the nearby Enterprise floundered in space while surrounded by debris, dead bodies, and other disabled ships, "Captain Picard, surrender. Or…." All of a sudden, Ba'al stopped talking when alarms rang on the bridge of his mothership.

"Sir?" said Riker on the Enterprise as his console started to beep. The crew, at least those who were not injured or dead, had used emergency power to get some of the sensors back up, and were now working on getting back the impulse engines and weapons, "we're getting radiation spikes."

"My Lord!" said Ba'al's first Prime as he looked back at him just as several breaches opened in space on the other side of the Earth, "hyperspace windows… I.. I'm reading over sixty."

"Oh my God," said Crusher who watched about seventy massive ships exit the breaches. And in the middle of the group was what seemed to be a large city covered with an orange shield.

"Report, Number One," said a dazed Picard as Crusher was slowly bringing him to while the injured Admiral Paris was being taken to sick bay.

"Sir," said Riker, "I'm getting an IFF from… this can't be right… it's from Voyager."

"Voyager?" asked Troi surprised before she turned to Picard who was looking back at her in surprise as well.

"The other ships, including the Pyramid vessels are turning towards the newcomers and…"

"This is General Willow Rosenberg, commander of the Pegasus Alliance fleet on board the Tau'ri warship, Vantage," said Willow as she stood next to Jon's seat while the Alliance ships started to scan the mothership, the Ha'tak ships, the Cardassian, and Breen ships. They were also examining the disabled ships for survivors, and they were also scanning the location of where the Stargate was deposited. "To all Cardassian and Breen vessels. You are in Earth space; leave now and go home. Do not fight us. I repeat, do not fight us. If a single weapon fire is directed at us, or to the planet below, or any of the other allied ships… We will not only destroy you… we will destroy your homes. We have weapons that will devastate your worlds, killing billions of men, women, and children."

Upon hearing that, the Cardassians looked at each other while commenting that humans would never do something as barbaric as that. IN the meantime, Ba'al looked out the viewport with a smile on his face at the arrival of the Tau'ri. However, in the back of his mind lay the question of why they called themselves the Pegasus Alliance, and he was wondering if this was the same Willow Rosenberg that he and his forces had faced long ago. In the meantime, Troi, who was looking out the gaping hole where the view screen used to be, turned to Riker and Picard before telling then that Willow meant every word she said.

"She is not joking."

"Now," said Willow as she looked out the large viewport in front of her while Voyager took off from the pier and headed for what remained of the Federation fleet. At the same time, Atlantis was running a planetary-wide scan that detected all the hotspots of Kull Warrior activity. That information was relayed to the Vantage where Willow and Buffy ordered all Slayers to prepare themselves for teleportation to the surface. "Listen very carefully."

"Ma'am?" said one of the technicians in Atlantis' Stargate Operations waving at Dawn before he pointed out at a group of Kull Warriors surrounding a woman three blocks away from the Stargate. The scan zoomed in on the bleeding and bruised woman, and then at the weapon next to her.

"Willow!" yelled Dawn into her ear-piece, "we've got a Slayer down. Sending you coordinates now… I'm getting weak life-signs. If you wanna send someone, they better go now."

"Buffy, Faith?" asked Willow looked at the two Slayers, "good luck."

"This is Atlantis to the Vantage, we're re-entering Earth," said Dawn while the weapons systems were targeting Ba'al's ship. She wanted all power to be focused on shields and weapons, instead of being divided between the engines, shields, and weapon systems. Willow nodded her go-ahead as Atlantis turned and headed for the planet below, her destination was San Francisco bay where, if need be, the shield could be extended to cover the entire city from orbital bombardment. While the city-ship was re-entering the atmosphere, the Goa'uld Mothership wasn't being targeted as the Pegasus fleet wanted to remove the Cardassians and the Breen out of the way, one way or the other, "to make your decision that much easier. Here's a simulation of what will happen."

At that same time, seven Daedalus class ships exited Hyperspace near Deep Space Nine just as Worf was about to be executed. One of the Cardassians in the Control Room called everyone to battle stations just as the main screen activated, and a recorded message with Willow's voice and a simulation showed the impact of ten Horizon weapon platforms on Cardassia Prime, and the Breen homeworld.

Kira, Sisko, and the others who were being held prisoner in the Control Room had been watching Cardassian officers in the promenade cheering as they dragged Worf out, and then forced the injured man to his knees. And it was just as the phaser from one of the Cardassians was placed at the side of the Klingon's head that the Daedalus class ships appeared, and immediately began firing on the Ha'tak class vessels.

The Goa'uld ships fired back at the Tau'ri ships, one of which used their short-range communications array to send the simulation to Deep Space Nine. In the station, everyone watched, just as the Cardassians and the Breen in orbit over Earth watched their screens in disbelief, as Cardassia Prime and the Breen homeworld was nearly destroyed.

At the same time, ships appeared over Cardassia Prime, Tellar Prime, Vulcan, Betazed, the Breen homeworld, and Andoria. All the ships opened fire at the Ha'tak class vessels and the Al'kash, as well as the ships from the Cardassians and Breen while sending transmissions to the authorities on the surface that they were in orbit to help. In the meantime, Tollan-Orbanian medical ships arrived in orbit of Bajor with a convoy of various Pegasus Fleet ships in case the Cardassian's tried to attack.

Back on Earth, as Josie was about to close her eyes from the pain despite her wanting to fight, she heard a loud 'bang' in the sky. The Kull Warriors looked at each other, and then turned to watched a fireball heading towards San Francisco. Even Josie was able to see it as her vision started to blur. While Atlantis was making her way to the Bay, the simulation was completed.

And Willow gave the Cardassian and Breen fleet one more warning.

"What you saw was a simulation," Willow said as she stood with her hands behind her back. At the same time, one of the bridge crew on the Vantage said that Ba'al was on the mothership, and that there was an Ori energy signal coming from the surface in Paris. Jon nodded his head while Willow continued, "we have ships over your worlds as we speak destroying your ships that fire back at us, and believe me when I say that we will not hesitate in firing those tactical nuclear weapons if you do not turn back now. Stop this fighting, go back home, and then unconditionally surrender to Federation authorities through our ships in orbit. You have one minute to turn back… and the clock is ticking."

In the meantime, Josie looked back up at the Warriors who raised their weapons at her. She closed her eyes, ready for the end, when there was a sudden screeching sound around her. And then she opened her eyes and turned her head to see bright flashes of white light. IN the gap between two of the Kull Warriors, Josie saw several armoured women. They pressed a green crystal on their chest, and watched as it lit up before a green shimmer surrounded their heads.

'A shield?' thought Josie as the Kull warriors started firing on them without hesitation. But the plasma bursts were either absorbed by the armour, or by the shield that wrapped around their heads. She then reached for her Scythe while watching one of the woman, a blonde, reach for a metallic tube on her right hip. Some of the others just ran at the Kull Warriors while others grabbed a hold of their own metal tubes.

"Slayers!" yelled Buffy as Josie opened her eyes wide in surprise. She was always told that she was the only one; the one girl in all the world bestowed with the strength and the will to find evil. And now she saw that there were more Slayers. Josie watched the blonde woman rush at the Kull Warriors. The others followed close behind her as she pressed a button on the tube, "light 'em up!"

TBC.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Starfleet Command, a few seconds later.**

Josie tried to stay awake as she watched a beam of light silently erupt from the tube the blonde woman was holding. Her increasingly tired eyes then watched the other so-called 'Slayers' as they activated their tubes of light. She then looked back at the blonde and watched the her pull back the blade, and then stab one of the creature's through the armour. Josie was stunned as she watched her, and the other women and girls punch, throw, cut, and stab through the Kull warriors that had surrounded her. Eventually Kull Warrior body parts lay around Josie's body on the ground; however, there was very little blood around her since the light blades seemed to cauterized the cuts.

"Slayers! Angel, Spike, Kathy," cried the blonde pressing down an object in her left ear. Josie watched the blonde then double press the same button on the metal tube, and the blade retracted back into the handle. She then clipped the tube to a clip on her right hip before going down on one knee next to her, "fan out. Faith, you know what to do. Everyone else, break into your teams and go after the Kull Warriors in Starfleet Command."

Once everyone acknowledged that order, Buffy looked back at the injured Josie while reaching into a small pocket on her belt. Josie struggled to talk, but Buffy asked her to take it easy. "You're going to be alright." Josie watched Buffy take out a two inch tube filled with a silvery coloured liquid. She then watched the blonde take off one end to reveal a needle while she pressed some coloured lights on the casing itself. "This is a nanite solution that's supposed to be tuned to my DNA. I've just reprogrammed it…." Josie saw a green flash from the sides of the partly transparent tube before she continued to speak, "and now it can work on anyone. Don't worry, it'll fix up your injuries in no time. Oh, ansd the nanites will be absorbed into your bloodstream after they're done, with no trace."

Buffy then looked at the Slayer looking back at her before she stabbed the needle into the young woman's thigh. Buffy then watched the liquid get into the young Slayer's body, and before long Josie arched her back and closed her eyes. She opened her mouth to release a silent scream while Buffy pulled out the device and held Josie down with one hand. "You were badly injured, that's why it's a little uncomfortable. Trust me, I know what it feels like. Look at me… look at me."

Josie opened her eyes at Buffy as she felt her body burning. She felt her wounds closing, her muscles re-stitching themselves, she felt each and every internal injury and scar through her whole body heal. The process was painful… but it lasted only for a few more seconds. And then the pain was gone. She looked up at the blonde who then stood up before reaching down and offering her hand… a hand that Josie grasped before she was pulled up to her feet.

Josie then heard the sounds of fighting all around her. Looking around, the Slayer saw women throwing the beings that the blonde called Kull Warriors to the side, while others snapped the necks of the armoured beings. She saw a lot of the women with the light blades cut the Kull Warriors down while their armour protected them from the plasma bursts.

Josie then turned to the blonde who walked over to one side and picked up the Slayer scythe. She watched the blonde turn around with the weapon in her hand, while smiling down at it.

"I missed you too," she whispered before looking up at Josie, "it's been a long time since I held the scythe."

"You're really a slayer?" asked Josie as the blonde returned the Scythe to her before she looked at all the other women again, and then back at Buffy. "I.. I thought I was the only one. I…"

"What's your name?" asked Buffy as she held the tube in her hand once again.

"Josie… Josie Charney."

"Josie, I'm Buffy… Buffy Summers."

"No, no way, absolutely no way," stammered Josie while shaking her head in disbelief, "Buffy Summers died and… I mean it's been three hundred over years and she's dead. She and the others are dead, and"

"You mean Faith? Rona? Violet?" said Buffy as Josie's eyes went wide, "oh yeah, we're still alive and kicking."

"How?" asked Josie with disbelief still etched on her face.

"oh you know, good food. Plus, I exercise a lot, oh and there's this skin cream that..."

"I.. I mean I've read up on you," a flustered Josie interupted Buffy, "I read up on Faith and the others, and I read the Watcher diaries with Miss Amara and…. Dear God, how are you alive and…. And… wait… wait…. No… no… I mean… no…. no… wait," Josie said as her voice pitched higher while waving her hands about excitedly, "how are you really alive? How are… I mean I'm a big fan and… oh, oh, did you really die twice?"

"Kinda," Buffy chuckled.

"Cool," said Josie while battles were taking place all over the Starfleet Command Compound.

"Josie?" said Buffy as she handed the scythe back to the young woman while looking at the device attacked to her already scorched and bloody shirt, "what's that?" Buffy nodded at the device before staring at Josie's face when the latter replied it was a shield.

"Computer?" asked Josie as Buffy looked on impressed, "energy levels?"

"Emitters are charged to eighty percent," the voice of the computer replied.

"So," Buffy said as she took off the tube from her belt clip, and pressed the button; the blue blade extending outwards silently, "let's do what we're supposed to do. We save the world. And then we talk."

"I can go with that," answered Josie before she commanded the shield to activate. While the both of them rushed to the many fights around them, Faith and several others were at the Stargate for the primary phase of the plan to save the world.

**Location of Stargate, Presidio, Stargate Command.**

"I'm at the Gate," said Faith looking up at the active Stargate, with several armed men and women with the Tau'ri military. They were all decked out with anti-Kull Warrior rounds as they took up positions and fired their weapons. Faith and another Slayer was providing cover as she sliced a Kull warrior into two while two other Slayers were preparing the energy shield that would cover the wormhole, just like an Iris. All the while, Faith and three other slayers were taking care of the Warriors that were still walking through the Stargate.

And the other Slayers, along with the Tau'ri military personnel, were using their weapons to cut down the Kull Warriors heading towards them.

As for the Warriors coming through the Stargate, once they stepped through, they were cut down by the glowing blades wielded by Faith and another Slayer, all while two other Slayers would dump the dead bodies on either side on the Gate. This went on until there were ten bodies on either side before the shield was put into place.

"Activate the shield," yelled Faith. A second later, a silver force field covered the event horizon of the wormhole.

And then the arrival of more Warriors stopped; all that happened now was that the shield flared multiple times as the incoming Kull Warriors were unable to materialize on the other side of the Stargate. That led Faith to contact Buffy and Willow, "B? Red? Stargate is secured. Slayer Teams, SG-1, SG-2 SG-3, and SG-4 are preparing to search and destroy all Kull Warriors in the immediate area. I need an engineering team here to access the Gate control crystals so that we could trace the wormhole back to it's origin."

"Beam down engineering teams," said Jon from the Vantage as they waited for the Cardassian and Breen response to their ultimatum.

**Cardassia Prime.**

The Tau'ri ships over Cardassia Prime had already destroyed the Cardassian orbital defenses; the Gallor class ships that were in orbit of the planet. It was an act that was shown to all ships in the war zone, including to Legate Broca and the ships over Earth as a warning for the Cardassians to back off. It was a statement that was supposed to show that the Tau'ri werent fooling around, that they had the technological advantage. However, despite the carnage in orbit, the Cardassians and Breen did not back off. In an underground bunker, Damar watched stunned at a monitor with several other rebels around him as the Daedalus class Tau'ri ships decimated the Cardassian Gallor class vessels protecting their homeworld.

"They won't surrender," Damar whispered before turning to one of his people and ordered him to find out the location of Legate Broca. "I need to get him to surrender." Damar saw the looks on the people around him; some were in disbelief that he was ordering them to stand down, especially upon seeing the destruction of the orbital fleet. Others were enraged for that exact same reason, and felt thatg he didnt care for the honor of his own people. Damar then lifted his hands and said, "I don't know if these Tau'ri have the inclination to fire nuclear weapons that cause such destruction. We have seen the simulation and yes, while it may be a lie, we must remember that these people are an unknown. They are not the Federation and do not seem to follow their rules; and thus, we cannot condemn Cardassian civilians; men, women, and children to this mass destruction. That is not the Cardassia I know. Contact Broca, I have to tell him to surrender now. Or we lose our planet forever."

Damar knew he got through to a few of his men. But the others were still angry about the call to surrender. He knew that calling the Tau'rfi ships in orbit and surrendering would be fruitless especially since he wasn't the military leader anymore. He knew that the civilians, who were tired of war, would more than likely come to his side but the problem was that most of the military was on the side of Broca and the Dominion, 'and now they are being taken in by promises of power by Ba'al.'

He then realized that there was only one thing he could do to minimise the damage to innocent life. Damar went on the planet-wide communication channel while the others were contacting officers they knew in the military. As they were making their calls, Damar was calmly telling all civilians to get to underground bunkers while, at the same time, a program was running to prevent the signal from being traced to its source.

Once the announcement had been made for all civilians to seek shelter, Damar was told that Broca was on Deep Space Nine.

"Contact him on Terok Nor," Damar ordered.

But it would be too late as the seconds ticked past the deadline.

**Deep Space Nine, a minute earlier.**

Broca watched as the ships that emerged out of the breaches in space proceeded to fire on the Ha'tak class ships. He and the others watched, distracted from what they were doing, as one of the Pyramid ships exploded while several flashes of white light shone all over the ship.

Including in the Command Center.

Captain Sisko watched as several men and women appeared and aimed weapons at the Cardassians immediately after the lights faded away. He watched the Cardassians aim their own phasers at the newcomers. In the Promenade, several flashes of white light deposited men and women who aimed weapons at the Cardassians, some of whom had line up Bajorans along the walls of the station and were prepared to fire a few seconds after the Daedalus class ships arrived.

"Don't," said a young armoured man as he, and two others, aimed their weapons at the Cardassians who were about to fire at the Bajoran men and women, "put down the weapons, very slowly. One wrong move, and I'll pull this trigger. So, put the weapon down."

The Cardassians looked around them, and found that they were surrounded in the Promenade. Even the Cardassian who was about to shoot Worf felt a barrel of a weapon pointed at his head.

Back in the Control Center, a blonde woman aiming a weapon at Broca spoke first, "My name is General Sam Carter-O'Neill of the Pegasus Alliance, I'm telling you to put your weapons down. And then? Then I want you to contact your military and order them all to surrender in the next… oh… fifty seconds."

Broca stared at the blonde armoured woman as she aimed a weapon directly at him. Broca stepped forward and shook his head.

"I am the military leader of the Cardassian Union," he said, "I will not surrender. My people will not surrender. All you and your people have shown us is fiction. Humans… humans now are an enlightened race that would never launch such an attack. You may have destroyed the fleet over Cardassia, but more will come to fight you. And that is all you will do. Humans will never launch a nuclear strike against innocents."

"I know who you are," said the General as she glared at Broca, "and we're not the Federation. In fact, we are not associated with the Federation. You don't believe us? Ask Ba'al what we did to the Goa'uld."

Sisko, the other Federation officers, and the Bajorans listened as the General told Broca that she and her people didn't want to fire on civilians, "but to stop your alliance with Ba'al? To show you that we mean business when we ask your people to pull back, we will destroy everything to make our point very clear. In fact, we'll be doing Ba'al a favour."

"You…"

"Ba'al doesn't care about you, the Breen, or anyone else," said the General as she aimed her weapon at his chest, "he cares about his own power. He cares about the Goa'uld being the only race technologically powerful enough to enslave the other races. The fact that the Goa'uld didn't know about your race is surprising. But if they knew? They would have bombarded your planet from orbit, and send you back to the dark ages. Surrender, and we won't fire. You keep on going? We'll be the ones destroying you."

"Broca?" said Sisko, sensing the seriousness of what General Carter was saying, as he sat next to Dax, "listen to her. The Federation and the Cardassian Union have to hold the line against the Goa'uld, and the Dominion. That is the only way forward for peace, and that is the only way for Cardassia to become a power again.. a power that redeemed itself."

"Legate," said another Cardassian officer as he looked up from a console which showed two more Ha'tak class vessels were destroyed, "our reinforcements are being pinned down at the airlocks. We're reporting some kind of blue energy beams stunning several of our soldiers."

"Sir, the fourth pyramid ship has been destroyed." Another Cardassian soldier said.

"You have twenty seconds," said the General as the last Goa'uld ships was destroyed before the Daedalus class ships turned and aimed their weapons at the Cardassian vessels that were not docked at the station, "we destroyed the Goa'uld ships in a little under a minute. And now our weapons are targeting your ships here. In addition, our ships over your planetalready have, or are currently destroying your orbital defences as we speak. After that, we will target a number of areas using nuclear weapons. You have fifteen seconds to surrender."

"Broca, surrender," pleaded Sisko who wasn't aware that the General told a lie. While the simulations did indeed show what would happen if a nuclear strike was carried out using a Horizon Weapon System, it was decided up until the last moment before the fleet exited over Earth to use a Mark Eight nuclear weapon against a single military target. If that did not convince the Cardassians that the Tau'ri meant business, then a single Horizon weapon would be launched.

Broca glared at the General, he knew that the Cardassians had been weakened to the lowest point in their proud history. They had to depend on the Dominion to regain power, and then on Ba'al. He knew that part of what General Carter said could be true, that Ba'al was going to turn on them. But Broca believed a deal could be reached where the Cardassians would be the Goa'ulds enforcers.

"Ten seconds," warned the General.

"I will not surrender. The Cardassians will never surrender," Broca then looked at all the Cardassians in the control room and ordered them to fire, "all ships, fire on the Tau'ri vessels!". The General then ordered the gathered Federation and Bajoran personnel in the Control Center to get down. Sisko pushed down Dax and shielded her with his body, while others went down to ground as the Cardassians who aimed weapons at them were fired upon before falling onto the floor, their bodies crackling with blue energy. The sounds of electrical discharge echoed throughout the Control Center for the next ten seconds.

By the time the weapons had gone silent, over ten of the Cardassian ships had been destroyed. Their shields were unable to withstand the Ancient weapons on the Daedalus class vessels for more than two shots. The pulses of plasma hit the shields, which then flared and collapsed as the weapons continued on until it penetrated the hull of the ships.

**Earth Orbit, two seconds past the deadline.**

"A minute has passed, sir," said Riker as he looked out the gaping hole where the viewing screen used to be and stared at Voyager hovering over the saucer section to provide some measure of protection for the Federation flagship.

"They cannot really fire nuclear weapons at the Cardassian and Breen homeworlds?" said Troi soon after Crusher had to leave the bridge after one of the many Admiral's on board was brought into the infirmary due severe internal bleeding.

"Hail Captain Janeway," said Picard. Once he had a ship to ship connection, the Captain welcomed Janeway back to the Alpha Quadrant, "but I wish it was under better circumstances."

"You and me both, Captain," said Janeway as she stared at the ships on her view screen, "we have already sent Dr. Crusher and your medical team any supplies we could spare. I'm guessing that we'll be in for a fight very soon."

"That would be safe to assume, Captain," said Picard, "you have spent some time with these Tau'ri it seems, Captain. Do they mean what they say? About nuclear weapons?"

"Captain," said Janeway, "we helped them with the simulation. As to whether they really do have nuclear weapons on board? That's something even our scans haven't been able to pick up." And then, before they could continue with Janeway telling them abut the Tau'ri being from Earth's past, Willow's voice rang through the fleet.

"This is General Rosenberg," Willow said as she looked out of the clear window, and out to the enemy fleet, "your one minute has passed. To the Cardassians, I received word from someone at Deep Space Nine that your military leader, Legate Broca, has fallen- he's stunned, but alive. The Cardassian invasion force on the station is being put down as we speak. Our people, as well as Federation and Bajoran officials, are about to accept the surrender of the Cardassians on the station. As for the Breen, we have not heard anything from your leadership… in fact we haven't heard anything from anyone in this fleet. This is your last chance to surrender. To the Cardassians and the Breen, I'm asking you to go to your home planets and surrender to the commanders of the battlegroups in orbit. Once all your weapons have been put down, only then will we disarm the nuclear weapons. You have a choice now, turn back and go home to surrender and thus save billions of your peoples lives. Or you can fire at us, or at the Federation ships, or at the planet below, and know what wrath really means. What do you choose?"

"Open hailing frequencies!" yelled Picard when Voyager's shield suddenly flared. Picard looked on with eyes wide open as all hell broke loose after the Cardassiana and Breen ships made their decision; the opened fire. He ordered all channels open as the Breen and Cardassian ships fired on the Pegasus Alliance vessels with the Goa'uld ships joining in. Ba'al just watched as several of the Breen and Cardassian ships were destroyed by weapons fire from the Pegasus Alliance. It was then that a Jaffa rushed up to him and said that the Kull Warriors on the surface were being attacked, and that their sensors showed the Stargate was blocked by an energy shield.

"Launch all death gliders," said the Goa'uld system lord, "I gave them the option to surrender, I sent my queen down to convince them to surrender. So I suppose they need to see what happens when they do not listen. Have the fighters destroy the entire city if they have to. Kill those attacking the Warriors, and then I want that shield disengaged."

"Yes, my lord," said the Jaffa before he rushed back to a console and relayed that order to all the death-gliders on the mother ship and the remaining Ha'tak class ships over Earth.

"General," yelled an officer who turned to Jon while Willow was at another console authorising a single Horizon weapons strike, instead of ten, directed at Cardassian and Breen military bases and their surrounding areas. The man told Jon that hundreds of Death Gliders were being launched towards the surface; specifically San Francisco and Oakland.

"This is General O'Neill to all Arrows, launch! Launch! Launch!" ordered Jon before contacting the Galactica which also detected the launch. Jon contacted Apollo who said that he already gave the order to launch all Vipers. In the meantime, Willow, having heard everything, contacted Dawn on Atlantis and told her that fighters were heading her way.

"I see them," said Dawn as she stared at the primary screen in Stargate Operations before ordering the technicians to activate the shield and extend it to cover both San Francisco and Oakland. While the shield extended out to cover the two cities, Angel and the two vampires were tearing through the ranks of the Kull Warriors thanks to specially made Ancient shields that nullified the effects of Earth's sun. The ensouled vampire, Kathy, and Spike worked with the Slayers and the Tau'ri weapons teams to take out the Warriors while the Atlantis shield flared as weapons fire from the Death Glider impacted.

**Cardassia Prime.**

In the meantime, a single clocked Mark Eight nuclear device was launched, after confirmation of Willow's order, towards the surface of the Breen homeworld and Cardassia Prime, just as Damar was told that Broca was located in Deep Space Nine. Just as Damar was about to contact Deep Space Nine to convince Broca to surrender, alarms blared throughout his base of operations.

"Sensors are detecting a radiation spike!" yelled one of his men as Damar went to another console in a state of panic. He realized that people were still getting to their shelters as a screen activated looking out to a city thousands of miles away. It was a city that was on the outskirts of a vast complex that housed one of their weapons research facilities. Damar and the others in the underground base saw a streak in the sky from a cloaked object which decloaked once it passed the cloud cover. He saw the cylindrical object falling towards the complex with eyes wide open in fear.

He then ordered all defensive weapons to fire at the object.

However, it was too late. Damar watched in horror as, while men in the complex were running to their posts, while civilians were still running for cover as fast as they could; the object continued its trajectory. Then, all of a sudden, thrusters fired from the rear of the object as it sped up and then crashed into the Complex. There was a column of smoke from the hole caused by the cylindrical object.

And then there was an explosion.

And that was all Damar and his people saw before there was a bright white flash as the complex was ripped apart. A few seconds later, the ground shook as they stumbled onto the floor while protecting themselves from falling debris. However, the people in the complex and the surrounding areas weren't lucky.

**Orbit of Earth.**

"I'm sorry," Willow whispered as a real-time video showed the single mushroom cloud rising into the air from the surface of Cardassian Prime and from the Breen homeworld. The same images were transmitted to the ships that were still fighting the Pegasus Fleet while trying to defend the damaged Federation vessels over Earth. Even the crew of the Federation ships that still had communication capabilities, such as Voyager, watched the destruction with eyes wide open in horror.

As did the crew on Deep Space Nine, with Sisko spinning back at the General before saying that they had gone too far.

"They made their choice," said General Carter as she stared at Sisko while several of the surrendered Cardassians were still unconscious as they were dragged to the walls of the Control Center, and then disarmed. Sisko, clearly unhappy about the situation, then rushed to another console and ordered Odo and Dr. Bashir to stand down from their plan.

In the space surrounding Deep Space Nine, the crews of the remaining Cardassian ships stopped firing, as did the Daedalus class vessels once General Carter asked the Cardassians once again to head back to their home. "Surrender to our ships in orbit, and then help your people rebuild. Believe me when I say that the result could have been much worse. I know the actions we have taken are not like the Simulation we showed you. This is just a small small of what we are wiling to do. Those weapons? We have ten of them in our pocket; and just one's destructive power is a hundred times what these Mark Eights have caused. So, please…. Go home. Transmit your surrender to our ships, and then start helping your people recover."

The Cardassian vessels surrounding Deep Space Nine, full of anguished crew members, then turned around and warped away. It was the same with the remaining Cardassian vessels over Earth. It was the same with the Breen vessels as well as they watched the bombing of their world by a single nuclear weapon while several Tau'ri ships were in orbit.

The two belligerent races were told that any attempt to fire on the orbiting Tau'ri ships would result in the launch of the more powerful nuclear weapons.

"We did the right thing," said Willow as she looked up from her console at General O'Neill. The woman felt slightly sick at having given the order to fire a Mark Eight at the planet. She knew that innocents would die in the strike, and so she ordered two of the medical ships over Bajor to be redirected to the Breen homeworld and Cardassia Prime to offer any medical aid if needed.

"We did what had to be done," said General O'Neill as he looked at Willow. The redhead then nodded her head before taking a deep breath.

"Jon, where's Adria? Where's Ba'al?" asked Willow shaking her head before looking over at Jon.

"Adria's in Paris," said Jon as he got up from his control chair and walked towards the redhead and General O'Neill, "and Ba'al's on the ship."

"General," said Willow as she looked at the older O'Neill, "Get ready to beam over to the mothership. Daniel and the others are ready for you, and you'll be heading there with one of the Slayer Squads we didn't send down to the surface. The other Slayer squad will be going to Paris with me and Vala."

"This is gonna be real fun," said Jon.

"Once we're beamed over, Jon," said Willow, "I want all ships open up with everything they have on the mothership."

"Agreed," Jon said as the Pegasus Alliance ships targeted Ba'al's mothership.

"Two minutes," said Willow as she got ready to leave for the armoury while the Pegasus Alliance ships were now destroying one Ha'tak vessel in Earth orbit after another, "and then beam us down. We finish this tonight."

TBC.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**New Terra, few hundred years ago within the time dilation field.**

"Mommy!"

Buffy and Xander snapped opened their eyes before rushing out of bed together. With no time to even put on their robes, the two of them ran out the door, and then into the hallway. They then darted towards the room of their youngest daughter, Lisa, who was five years old.

"Lisa!" yelled Buffy as the little girl screamed out loud once again. With their other two children having moved out of the house and living on the other side of the city known as New Sunnydale, the couple only had their little girl with them. And now, she sounded as if she was terrified.

"Mommy! Daddy!" she yelled once again. However, this time there seemed to be a hint of laughter in her voice, but Buffy and Xander didn't recognise the part where Lisa didn't sound scared; all they heard was their little girl screaming for them. Reaching the door, which was coloured blue in contrast with the walls of the two-story house, Buffy shoved it open and dashed inside with Xander by her side. Once inside, they suddenly stopped and started at the orange glow around their youngest daughter who covered her mouth with her hands and started to giggle. "Mommy! Daddy!" She then put her arms around her tiny time and started to twist her body while giggling, "it tickles!"

"Honey," said a concerned Buffy as she rushed to her daughter and picked her up off the bed while her body was still glowing. Buffy held Lisa tight while staring at an equally surprised Xander who had his eyes wide open, "shh, honey. It's going to be alright."

"It tickles, mommy," Lisa said as she wrapped her arms around Buffy's neck and stared at the picture on the wall of herself, her parents, and her older brother and sister. Lisa then let go of Buffy's neck and pulled back while still giggling before she looked at the concerned face on Buffy. Lisa then twisted her body and watched Xander walking towards her in a blue shirt and white shorts, a smirk on his face.

"You scared us, sweet pea," Xander said, chuckling while ruffling the hair of the still giggling Lisa. Lisa then gave a wide smile showing off her gleaming white baby teeth at her father and said she was sorry.

"I saw this ball of light, and then it went into me and now it feels warm," she excitedly said looking at Xander, and then at Buffy, and back to Xander again. "I was scared when I saw it, and when it went into me? It was nice." It was then that Lisa noticed the look of worry on her mother's face again, and then she noticed the smile vanish from Xander's face for a little while as the couple looked at each other. But when Xander looked at Lisa once again, the smile reappeared on his face. But Lisa caught on to the look of worry on the both of them and was afraid she had done something wrong.

"Mommy, Daddy? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Lisa," Xander said gently as he stroked the back of her head while Buffy pulled the little girl, who was already in her arms, forward and hugged her tight. "Nothing's wrong."

But Buffy knew exactly what had just happened, as did Xander. They knew that it was time to search for potential Slayers thought the worlds in the time dilation field. They knew that the Stargates must have been activated for the ritual, originating from Lantea, to take place. They knew it was time for the annual opening of the Slayer Academy to new applicants, and that the ad blitz would be beginning the next day. In the meantime, the spell designed to indicate the people who had the potential to be Slayers in the planets that were within the time dilation field continued to do its job among the other races as well.

While it was good to know that there were thousands of potentials Slayers out there, Buffy was terrified that her youngest daughter was one of them.

**The Slayer Academy, Sunnydale, 1000 hours.**

The next day, Buffy talked to Giles and told him what happened to Lisa while they were walking through a glass covered Bridgeway that connected the seventh floors of the four-towered, twenty storied, Slayer Academy. Buffy had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and wore a blouse and jeans while holding on to a cup of coffee while Giles, his hair thinned grey, was wearing a white shirt and brown trousers with his hands behind his back.

"She needs to be told, Buffy," said Giles who was the head of the Slayer Academy, as the sun shone through the clouds in the sky. It was a cool day as the trees around the vast complex swayed while students were playing in the fields, training, simply studying, or just hanging out. Buffy glanced out the one-way tinted glass, away from Giles, and saw students, some as young as twelve, undergoing basic exercises while Giles continued to talk, "and from then on, it's her choice."

"I never thought any of my girls would ever have to be a Potential," Buffy said softly while listening to the sounds of Slayers training as they continued to walk through the passageway.

The Academy was an alternative to Sunnydale High and the University of Sunnydale. In addition to Potential Slayers, there were also students from the nearby cities who were non-potentials; instead, they took up training in magic with Tara and her teams of witches and warlocks. There were also other students who were not interested in being Potentials nor were they interested in Magic being educated in the Academy; instead, these parents wanted their kids to get the best education possible.

"I know that some of the non-Potentials wish they could be…. You know.. a Potential Slayer. And I know the Potentials want to become Slayers, but…"

"They don't really know what that means," Giles nodded his head, "even the virtual reality training simulators don't have the whole weight of real combat. Although it does come very close."

Buffy sighed nodding her head while she recalled a technology that was developed fifty years after the time dilation devices were activated. It was based on the Virtual Reality pods provided to the SGC by the Vosinii of P7J-989 many years ago; before the exodus to Pegasus.

The new pods designed on Lantea were capable of being networked so that squads of Slayers and Potentials could train on various difficulty settings against demons, vampires, Wraith, or anything in between. The technology was even being used outside of the military and the Slayer Academy as entertainment modules for gaming.

Thanks to crystal leads from the pods that could be attached to various parts to the body providing an electrical charge to the muscles to replicate whatever was happening in the Virtual scenario; it was a highly effective training device. So if a Slayer or potential was being punched, they would feel the injury on their body... but they wouldn't be injured.

Even if they had their arm broken in the simulation, the Slayer or Potential would feel the pain, but the arm would be intact. The pain would last for the better part of a day with medication before fading away. But it was extremely useful in giving the Potentials and activated Slayers training since they were in a Time Dilation field with very few enemies to fight.

There were incidents of supernatural occurrences on the worlds that were occupied a long time ago, but those were swiftly taken care of by the Witches and Slayers.

The Virtual Reality scenarios would include vampires, demons, monsters, even ancient vampires. The Slayers and Potentials would have to work together in the virtual world work where, thanks to the leads that attached to their skin, they could feel everything. They could feel a warm or cool breeze, or they could feel the sun beating down on them, or the feeling of snow landing on their skin.

They could feel the pain from cuts as blood dripped down their bodies, but their real-life bodies were unharmed. Most importantly, they could feel the weapons they would have to carry; from feeling the weight and grain of a wooden stake to the leather wrapped handle of a sword or an axe, to the weight of a crossbow just before firing.

They felt everything.

And it was the same for the military personnel who trained in these pods. Those involved in the Army could feel just about anything from the dust being kicked into their eyes, to a bullet hitting them on their body. Or those in the Tau'ri Defence Fleet would feel the effect of G-Forces as pilots flew an F-22, F-302, or an Arrow. They could also train on ships as members of the crew on the Aurora, or the Daedalus, or the Avalon. This is all so that they could be used to the feeling of the console, the buttons, the air supply on a ship.

So that they could be experienced in warfare.

The pods were used to train the military and the Slayers so that when it was time to fight against the Wraith, the men and women in the front lines were ready. However, there the traditional methods of training were still used. Only after reaching a certain level of real life training, could the military officers and Slayers begin training in the pods. Even then, rigorous real life training was still carried out by the personnel even if they used the pods.

Even Buffy and the other Scoobies would train; as would Willow, Faith, Daniel, Teal'c, and the others. All to keep their skills sharp while they lived their lives in the time dilation field.

Given the uses of the technology, it was heavily regulated outside the Slayer Academy and the military. The Civilian settings on the pods could not reach the maximum; it ended at level six instead of ten, and any attempt to change the software would render the device unusable. However, the maximum civilian level was good enough for gamers who wanted to play being a soldier, or racing a car or flying a ship from one galaxy to another while battling enemy fighters.

The technology was extremely popular among the so-called 'clean brothels' that popped up soon after the technology was made available to civilians. And it was used as a training tool for the police departments on New Terra, Lantea, and several other worlds.

Back in the Present day, Giles was telling Buffy that if Lisa chose to embrace her calling as a Potential Slayer, Buffy could ease the little girl into it by telling her stories of her exploits.

"I know it's Lisa's choice," said Buffy shaking her head as she walked with Giles into a hallway, and towards her office, "but what do I do if she wants to become a full Slayer? What if after all the training, all the history lessons on the Slayer and Watchers diaries, she still wants to be a Slayer?"

"Then she has her mother and father to lean on," said Giles, "and she has her brother and sister. It's ultimately her choice, Buffy. She still needs to be told about her calling, and if she chooses to pursue it is her choice."

"And I ask you again, Giles. What if she chooses to become a Slayer?" asked Buffy not liking his answer as she reached her office. She then turned and stared at Giles.

"Then she.. then she's going to make you proud," Giles whispered.

Buffy simply sighed before she nodded her head, and then looked away. Giles watched Buffy walk into her office before he took off towards his office on the twentieth floor of the first tower.

He had to coordinate the new training sessions of the recently activated Slayers with Angel so that they could begin basic training with the pods.

**Persephone, Earth Orbit, a few seconds later; present day.**

"We've received orders to engage, ma'am" said Major Daniels as he looked back at Lisa who nodded her head.

"Coordinate with the Vantage," Lisa ordered as the bridge lights dimmed and a call went out throughout the ship to prepare for battle, "activate the tactical display and lock on all weapons to the mothership."

"Locked and ready," Major Daniels said as everyone on the bridge looked out at the dorsal section of Ba'al's mothership. When a holographic display was laid over the front viewport. Lisa narrowed her eyes at the two yellow shimmers that surrounded the mothership and then ordered Major Daniels to contact the Vantage.

She then turned towards the mothership and pursed her lips at something unexpected.

**Vantage, at that same time.**

"General, sir," called out one of the officers as he looked back at Jon, "the mothership has raised shields and… and well, according to the Persephone, it's a double layered shield."

"Activate the tactical display, give me confirmation" ordered Jon as the large screen in front of them shimmered. A holographic layer rose just over the viewport and showed the location of all enemies in space, including the ones that were being destroyed. It also showed the location of any and all damaged Starfleet vessels, as well as the vessels that were still active and about to fire on the Ha'tak class vessels. Jon could see, as he leaned forward, that Voyager was about to take on a Ha'tak class vessel with four other ships. He could see that the five vessels still had shields and weapons, while several others guarded the Enterprise and the other damaged ships. 'They're going to be alright if a group of Federation ships take them on."

Jon then watched a scan of the mothership on the holographic layer showing an elliptical shield, and another interior shield that hugged the hull of the massive vessel, both of which were being powered by an Ori power source. With the Federation ships destroying the pyramid ships and then moving onto another one, Jon ordered all Pegasus Alliance ships to focus on the mothership. He then contacted General O'Neill and told him about the double shields on the mothership which was preventing the transporters from locking onto the interior of Ba'al's massive ship.

"Stand by," said Jon just as he received confirmation that all ships were ready to fire on the mothership.

"General Rosenberg and her team are requesting permission to beam down to the surface, sir," said another officer, "and they've requested the ETA of the Melbourne."

The Melbourne was the lone Daedelus class vessel that was assigned to head to the Omega Sita, an underground bunker that used both technological and magic locks to seal items that threaten not only the safety of planet Earth but the galaxy as well. Items such as a tablet, sought by minions of the hell god Glory to open a one-way incoming doorway to her dimension, were stored here. It was Buffy's team that killed the minions just before two of the hell gods that trapped Glory in the human vessel known as Ben could arrive on Earth. Thousands of items, including dark magic spell books, were stored here as well.

And one of the items was the Ark of Truth; the very reason why the Melbourne was in orbit of the Omega Site planet before it opened a hyperspace window and left for Earth.

"Well, contact the Melbourne," said Jon. It took a few seconds before they found out that the Melbourne was six minutes away. Jon then ordered the message to be relayed to Willow in the locker room.

"General Rosenberg's requesting permission to beam down again, sir," said the officer after Willow was notified. He was wondering why the redhead needed that information but chose not to ask at that moment since they were dealing with a more immediate threat in space.

"Granted," said Jon before he looked back up at the forward viewport. "Cripple the mothership. I know we tried to beam that clown, Ba'al, out, but there's something blocked our targeting sensors. Once the ship's been crippled, we beam General Jack O'Neill over with his team."

"Understood."

"All ships!" yelled Jon as every single Pegasus Alliance ship targeted the mothership while the fighters; the Vipers and the Arrows were fighting the Death Gliders. Just as the Alliance fleet opened fire with every weapon they had, Admiral Henrikson of Starfleet, who was stationed in the planetary defence compound in San Francisco, ordered the launch of all Peregrine Fighters to repel the Death Gliders. He was interested in the shield that protected his city, but he told himself that those questions could be answered at another time.

He then got in touch with Dawn on Atlantis, he referred to the city as the 'unknown vessel' and then coordinated with her on the borders of the shield so that the Peregrine Fighters didn't impact it and be destroyed. While the fighters launched, space above Earth and outside the hundreds of damaged and destroyed Federation ships lit up in white, green, blue, and orange as the weapons fire from all ships hit the mothership's shields.

"My word," Picard could only whisper as he and the others on the Enterprise, as well as the crew of Voyager while they fought the remaining Ha'tak class vessels, watched the violence that was erupting over their world.

**Emergency Chambers of the Federation Council, Paris, France; a minute earlier.**

Adria stared at the screen overhead which showed the nuclear explosion in Cardassia Prime, and she smiled at the outrage coming from the people all around her. The emotions they were exuding ranged from anger to disgust; both at the Tau'ri and at her.

And now, she was watching the ongoing battle between the Pegasus Alliance and some two hundred Federation Alliance ships, against the remaining Ha'tak class vessels and Ba'al's mothership whose shields were flaring orange as every weapon directed at it was rendered useless. At least for now, some of the drones fired from the Aurora class ships were being destroyed at the outer shield. However, there were a few that went through only to be destroyed once they hit the interior shield.

Quetesh smiled as she looked away from the screen above them, and then looked down at the body of the Federation President at her feet. She glanced at the people who were huddled together while her Kull warriors blocked the exits. There were several other dead bodies, the very reason why the counsellors were cowering, that littered the red-carpeted floor of people shot down by plasma repeaters after they tried to use their numbers and barge through the Kull Warriors.

They failed, and sixteen people were mowed down, the scorch marks on their dead bodies still smoking

Quetesh had a smile plastered on her face. She chuckled at the destruction of the military base on Cardassia Prime while the other councillors were muttering among themselves at the level of violence being unleashed. After the nuclear blast, there were some who were even telling her that there could still be some peace between their peoples; that they had heard of how the Tau'ri tried to exterminate the Goa'uld. And that the Federation could give them some measure of protection only if they powered down their weapons.

Thanks to Adria's abilities, Quetesh knew that the man was being deceptive. He had no intention of seeking peace after what he and the other human and aliens had seen on the screen as their Federation, Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, and Andorian ships and people were being slaughtered.

She licked her lips as she stared at the fear on the faces of the people looking back at her.

She scanned the rows of seats with her eyes until she reached a man with pointed ears and a white robe staring back at her. Quetesh raised one side of her lips as she walked towards the section where the man was seated. Quetesh was curious, she was trying to get a surface scan of his mind, but she felt her probes being blocked. She then tried to feel his emotions, but all she found was that he had a high degree of control over his emotions. The others were exuding fear, while the man was showing 'indifference'.

"You do not fear?" asked Quetesh as she approached the edge of the raised platform while staring at the man. She then stepped down and walked to a series of stairs.

"Vulcan's do not feel fear," said the man calmly as Quetesh walked up the stairs. He remained standing while two Kull Warriors walked down to Quetesh, and then flanked her.

"You will. By the end of today, you will feel fear," Quetesh said just before she turned around and walked down the set of stairs once again to the middle of the raised platform.

She stared, with her lips now twisted in a sneer, at everyone cowering in fear of her as she wagged her finger at each row of seats. Quetesh then pointed at one section, and the accompanying group of people huddled while glaring back at her. She pointed at each person as they glared at her while mumbling "do I kill you? Or you? or you? or you? Or do you make good slaves? So many decisions to make."

Suddenly there was a screeching sound from behind Quetesh. The young woman's sneer turned to a smile as she turned around and came face to face with eight flashes of white light. Once the light faded, she came face to face with the last person she thought she would ever meet again.

"My, my, my," said Quetesh as she formed a half smile on her face, "Vala Mal Doran. You look well for someone who should be over three hundred years old."

"Food and exercise, Adria," replied Vala as she raised a weapon and aimed it at the younger woman. In the meantime, Willow mentally contacted the leader of the Slayer squad behind her, Milly Cooper, and ordered her to take out all the Kull Warriors. Willow glanced at Milly, and then at the people around her before looking back at Quetesh.

"Vala?" asked Willow.

"You won't stop me this time, Athena," Quetesh said as she gathered energy in the palm of her hand. The energy began to twist and turn as it slowly glowed and then rippled as a red coloured orb, and then it started to burn as flames ripped through the surface. And all the while Adria had a smile on her face, "you cannot stop me. In fact, you never did stop me in a fair fight."

"Adria, I know you are in there, I need you to fight," said Vala sternly as she walked to the left side of the former Orici while Willow mentally ordered the Slayers to neutralise the Kull Warriors while she crept to the right.

"Go!" Willow hissed as Milly and the Slayers rushed off the platform and down the steps, before activating the blades of light. They rushed up the stairs and then began attacking the Kull Warriors while Willow placed a telekinetic shield in the immediate area of the pulse blasts the Warriors were firing.

Her shield prevented more innocent deaths while the Slayers went to work.

Milly had the first kill as the plasma hit the armour she was wearing. She got closer and then rolled just as the Kull swung its arms. It was about to hit the side of her head when, with the nanites and her training slowing down her perception, Milly looked up after her roll, and saw that the arm was just overhead. She then swung her blade the other way and cut off the arm which then fell onto the floor. She then cut off the other arm as the Kull stumbled back. Finally, she then swung the blade horizontally before moving on to another Kull. All in all, the first kill took less than six seconds and ended with the armless Kull being bisected through the abdomen.

"That's two," said Milly as she killed another Kull, and soon the others began yelling out their kills. The Slayers continued to cut down one Kull after another while Willow glanced at the young women.

As Willow watched them fight, she knew that if it hadn't been for the Slayers, then they wouldn't have gotten rid of the Wraith.

Once the Kull in the chamber were defeated, Milly ordered the Slayers to be split into two groups. One would go after the Kulls in the Complex, while the others would lead the survivors out of the chamber and to the surface where it was safe.

"You know as well as I do, Vala," said Quetesh while the survivors we being led away as she pulled her arm back to fire the blast at her hosts' mother, "that the host does not exist anymore. Now, I suggest you be silent and…"

"Adria," barked Vala as she lowered her weapon and stared at the dark-haired young woman in front of her, "listen to my voice, I… I can't lose you again. I… I don't want to kill you again. Gain control and.. and we could help you. We can be mother and daughter. You have a brother and sister, Adria. I need you to come back and…"

"Then I'll kill them too," said Quetesh as she fired the blast of fire at Vala. It was then that the blast hit a telekinetic shield, Willow's shield, as she stepped forward from the right side while gathering a white coloured energy in the palm of her hand. She then blasted Quetesh.

The Goa'uld slapped the blast away, the arm that deflected the blast glowed yellow for just a second. It was then that Willow and Vala had confirmation that Adria was using a personal force field. The blast impacted an empty section of the now empty chamber and then exploded with chairs, dust, concrete and metals being thrown into the air.

"I see someone's been practising," mocked Quetesh as she stared at Willow. "I have my hosts' memories, Athena. I see she nearly killed you. If not for Vala's interference, she would have. I will not make that same mistake."

"Yea, well," quipped Willow as she mentally ripped off a row of seats while Vala raised her weapon again. She pumped the weapon, a grenade launcher, and then aimed it at Quetesh while taking steps back. Even with the shield around her, Vala knew that Quetesh would be jarred by what was about to happen.

Willow shot one row of seats after another towards Quetesh who blocked several using her own formidable abilities. Willow then fired off more energy blasts while tearing off more seats and ramming them into Quetesh.

Quetesh then started to defend herself by mentally grabbing some of the rows of seats being shot towards her and redirecting them to Willow who mentally shoved them aside. The fight between the both of them, with both using telekinetic powers and energy blasts from the palms of their hands, was destroying the entire chamber while Vala took cover and aimed the weapon at Quetesh.

Vala waited for Willow's signal as she stared at the redhead while Quetesh mocked her.

"Do you remember how Adria nearly broke your neck, Athena? That is what will happen again. I will put you down, and then I will put the coward, Vala, down. I will ground you both into dust, and..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," yelled Willow as she dodged a blast before firing one of her own while mocking Quetesh. "Boo hoo. Look at me, I'm a leather wearing skank who wants to rule the galaxy."

It was at that point that Willow and Vala glanced at each other knowingly.

**Vantage Locker Room, three minutes ago.**

A few minutes ago, when in the Vantage's locker room just before beaming down to the surface, Willow checked a screen on the port side and ran a scan on the area around Quetesh. She then saw the unique signatures of the Kull Warriors and over a hundred life signs in the underground complex. A plan then formed in her mind. A plan she shared mentally shared with Vala as she checked her weapon. In a few seconds, Willow ran through a scenario mentally with Vala. Once she mentally told Willow that it was a risk, but possibly successful, Willow then brought in Milly to the mental scenario.

Willow went through the scenario; starting with the Slayers killing the Kull Warriors while Willow laid a mental shield near people close to the blast zone from the Kulls plasma repeaters. The plan was then for Milly and the Slayers to separate into two groups; one to kill the remaining Kull Warriors in the building while another team took the hostages out of the building.

Once they were out of the chamber, Willow and Vala were aware that anything could happen. The two of them just needed to hold back Quetesh for the Melbourne, a Daedalus class ship that was already on its way… six minutes away… to Earth.

They could have waited until the ship was in orbit, but Willow and Vala were concerned that Quetesh would start murdering people; if she already hadn't started.

"No anti-Prior weapon with us," said Willow before telling Jon to contact the Melbourne and have them replicate an Anti-Prior device and then activate it before putting it inside the special cargo that was on the way to Earth. "She's going to have her shield, that's a definite fact."

"I agree," Vala said.

"So, we distract her, we keep her busy," said Willow, "and then once we have the Ark beamed down, the Anti-Prior weapon will be activated. She and I will be powerless, and then... well, hopefully then we won't be dead. We'll use the device on her, punch her out, and then ask the Asgard for help in getting the Goa'uld out of her."

"Sounds like a plan," Vala said as she stood ready with the weapon in her hand.

**Back on Earth, now.**

And once Vala, Willow, and the Slayer squad were beamed down… they put their idea into action. As a result, Willow and Vala were left alone with Quetesh furiously firing energy blasts at Willow while Quetesh rushed to the other side of the chamber, took cover behind an untouched row of seats, and then got down on one knee and aimed the weapon.

Willow could feel mental fingers trying to probe her mind, and Vala's as well, as she and Quetesh fought a battle of mental abilities. The redhead had placed several blocks between their minds and Quetesh's probes while Vala had her weapon raised at her daughter.

"What do you have planned, Athena? Vala?" asked Quetesh as she dodged a shot before firing one blast at Vala. A blast that Willow deflected up towards the ceiling. Quetesh was impressed as she glanced at Willow and mentally told the redhead that her shields were much stronger than the last time they faced. "Too bad it's not enough."

"Yeah? Well…." Willow quipped before she looked at one of the rows of seats, jerked her head to the side while telekinetically ripped off three rows of seats. Willow's forehead was covered in sweat as she then snapped her head and waved her arms at Quetesh just before the seats slammed into the former Orici. This time, Quetesh was flung into the other side of the chamber with a thud, while Willow turned and ran as fast as possible towards Vala's location with a telepathic yell.

_Willow: "Now, Vala!"_

Vala aimed the weapon at the location where Quetesh was flung. She knew that her daughter would be alright, her shield was designed to help her survive anything. For now, though, they needed a distraction.

Once Willow reached Vala's location, the latter woman pressed the trigger just as Willow raised a shield around herself and Vala. A second later, there was a large explosion that spewed debris every which way. The shield covering the both of them flared as debris fell on it while Vala and Willow looked out at the flames.

"Never that easy, is it?" asked Vala as she pressed a button on the side of the weapon and switched to the attached armour-piercing rounds.

"Nope," she replied while Vala cocked the weapon. Willow closed her eyes and scanned the surrounding area while keeping her mind, and Vala's, blocked from Quetesh.

"It's a minute away," said Willow as she stood up.

"Anything on Adria?" asked Vala as the both of them walked down the stairs to the raised platform. Stepping up onto it, the two of them cautiously walked towards the flames while Willow said that she could still feel the hate from the Goa'uld symbiote.

"She's somewhere under the... argh!"

"Will...? Damn... ugh!"

Willow and Vala, their faces twisted in pain, then fell to their knees while their hands clutched their chests. There was a sudden release of physic energy as the debris that covered Quetesh was blasted away. The two women collapsed onto their sides as Quetesh, who looked unharmed, floated herself up and out of the twisted metal she was buried under. She then landed on the raised platform while staring at the two woman on the floor.

She smiled as the both of them opened their mouths to breathe while a sudden vice-like grip squeezed their hearts.

"Come now, Vala. Athena. This is too easy." Quetesh mocked as the two women were groaning in pain. Quetesh crouched down next to Willow who was laying on her side and continued to probe her mind, at least attempted to, however, she couldn't get anything since she felt Willow using all her powers to block their thoughts. Quetesh, looking down at Willow, grabbed her arm and rocked her to her back while Vala was struggling for breath while opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish out of water.

Quetesh smiled down at Willow who had her eyes closed while her face was twisted in pain. "I am the Ori, Athena. You are still weak. Now, show me, Athena. Show me everything you have planned. Or I kill you and Vala very, very slowly."

**Persephone, orbit of Earth, at that same time.**

"We're out of drones!" yelled an officer as Lisa shook her head in disbelief. The Persephone and every other ship had been firing with all their weapons for the past four minutes, pounding the shields mercilessly. However, the mothership's outer shield had gone down to seventy percent, but the inner shield was holding at eighty.

The outer shield continued to take the brunt of the blasts. And even if the blasts did penetrate the outer shield, the blasts lost a lot of energy, and was barely effective against the inner shield. Lisa knew they needed a new plan as she ordered Major Daniels to contact Jon, Apollo, and Jack O'Neill since he was still unable to get to the mothership.

"Continue firing," said Lisa as she got off her seat and was heading to the screen on the port side when Major Daniels called her back. Various consoles started to beep as Lisa turned and looked out at the tactical screen. The shields on the mothership were still flaring from weapons impacts, but the strange thing was that the Pegasus alliance ships hadn't been fired on by Ba'al.

Suddenly, the domed section of the ship started to peel away. Lisa stared at the rising power level on the holographic screen which indicated that weapons were about to be fired. However, the main weapon was pointed away from Earth. Lisa had seen the video of the Mothership destroyed Bajor, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the 'petals' that made up the done unfurled and yellow coloured energy crackled along its surface.

"This is General O'Neill! All ships evasive manoeuvres!"

The General's voice came in good and clear through the speakers in all the Pegasus Alliance ships.

"Evasive pattern Omega Three!" yelled Lisa, recognizing the grave seriousness in Jon's voice, she was about to dash back to her command chair when the crackling energy reached the tip of each 'petal', and rapid bursts of energy was fired out at the Pegasus Alliance vessels. The blasts impacted the Persephone's shields causing the entire ship to violently shake as the crew were flung around onto the walls and then the floor. The ship was then hit by another blast as Lisa was flung onto the back of her seat. He hit it with her shoulder, screamed in pain, and then the ship shook once again when she hit the floor with a thud. There were violent explosions at various areas of the ship while Lisa was helped up as sirens stared to blare.

She listened to the cacophony of voices as the tactical scree fizzled slightly while showing the Alliance ships being hit hard.

"Damage report!" yelled Lisa before she ordered the man holding onto her to push her arm back into it's socket. "Oh bloody hell!" yelled Lisa as, with a crack, her arm was pushed back into its socket just as the Persephone was hit once again. Some of the overhead panels dropped to the floor, injuring a few officers while sparks showered down.

"Shields at… at fifteen percent, hull breaches in decks four, six, seven, and nine… emergency force fields are holding," said a bleeding Major Daniels while Lisa, groaning in pain, was slowly getting to her feet. "Thirty injured, and… and four dead."

"The Vantage?" Lisa whispered as she shook her head.

"Badly damaged. They lost power to their weapons and hyperdrive. The Galactica is moving in to defend her, but she's damaged too," said the Officer.

"And us?"

"Shields are down to fifteen, we lost long range comms, life support in two decks are going down, we lost seventy percent of our weapons, and… and we can't take another hit right now. Shields slowly recharging."

"Contact the Vantage," limped Lisa towards her Command chair when she stopped. She had an idea as she stared out at the screen as the mother ship stopped firing at the Pegasus Alliance fleet.

"I am Ba'al," said a gravelly voice as Lisa, the slightly injured O'Neill's, Thor, Teal'c, Daniel, and every crew listened, "surrender your vessels. Or you fall to the Goa'uld empire."

"Encrypted comms, now!" barked Lisa while Ba'al continued to talk about how the combined Ori and Goa'uld technology would enslave the galaxy once again, and that not even the Tau'ri would be able to stop them. "Generals O'Neill? Admiral Adama? Thor? Teal'c?"

"We hear you Summers," said General O'Neill as the line crackled while Jon was helping the injured on the bridge, "what's up?"

"The weapon is recharging," said Major Daniels as Lisa looked at him, and nodded her head.

"Sir, I've just been told the weapon is recharging," Lisa said as she stared at the fritzing tactical screen, "we're not sure how long and…"

"Five minutes."

"Ok," Lisa said looking questioningly at Daniels, and then back at the screen, "we've got five minutes."

"So, we've got Bacchi talking for five minutes?" scoffed General O'Neill, "that's worse than torture."

"O'Neill, we have repaired our sensors," Thor said over the subspace radio, "I can confirm Lisa Summers' observation in regards to the recharge cycle of the weapon."

"I'm showing the same thing," Apollo said. "we have a break then. What's the plan?"

"General O'Neill, sir, when I was in Fleet Academy, I read up on how you and Colonel Carter stopped Anubis' ship."

"One 302 jumped into hyperspace, and through the shields," said the General, "crazy idea at the time. But that was without the inner shield, Summers."

"Well," said Lisa as alarms blared in the background, "I was thinking about the Horizon weapons we haven't fired because we're too close to Earth. And together with a few Raptors? I think we could take down the shield from the space between the outer and inner shields."

"Admiral?" asked General O'Neill.

"Beam the Horizon weapons to the Galactica," said Apollo.

"Let's just hope it works," Lisa said.

TBC.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Orbit of Earth, now.**

Ba'al was slightly concerned that the shield enhancements to his mothership wouldn't work, especially when there were a few drones that slipped through the outer shield. He was relieved that the drones had lost the vast majority of their power before exploding upon impacting the inner shield. He managed a smile as he looked out at the damaged ships of the Pegasus Alliance which were still firing their plasma weapons while the while the main weapon in his mothership, powered by the Eye of the Gods and enhanced by ascended knowledge thanks to Quetesh, was recharging.

It was the waiting that had him impatient... the waiting for the main weapon to be recharged.

While he was mocking both the Pegasus Alliance and the Federation Alliance in their inability to beat him, the Goa'uld thought back to long ago when he discovered that Adria was killed. Before the SGC, Homeworld Security, and the IOA ever realized that the Trust had agents everywhere in the IOA itself… Ba'al ordered one of his clones to find the site where Adria was killed. Once the site was found, one of his clones then gathered dried blood on the ground before leaving the planet. Ba'al kept the blood sample away after having checked its DNA viability, and in the meantime, he travelled to his base on a planet at the far side of the galaxy.

There he had an underground bunker containing stargates to one day have his own Stargate network, as well as DNA samples of the System Lords. It was all so that he could, in a roundabout way, have the system lords under his control. He didn't want to 'grow' them in case, despite any genetic tampering, the System Lords would turn against him. But there was one he had a soft spot for, and that was Quetesh.. but he wanted to advance his own plans for subjugating Earth before even thinking about cloning Quetesh.

And t would be much later, following the resounding defeat of the living weapons that were the spark for World War Three on Earth, that Ba'al retreated back into the far regions of space. From there he went into stasis for a few years; he wanted some peace so that he could begin plotting his revenge.

After being in stasis for a little over fifty years, his Jaffa woke him up. He had a plan, and for his plan he needed to create a clone of Adria. He needed the body of the Orici with the knowledge of the Ori written into her very genetic code in the palm of his hand, with a symbiote that he could control. Ba'al was very aware that, for all intents and purposes, Adria was the Ori and she had the powers of a near-ascended being. So that those powers could never be used against him, Ba'al placed genetic locks in her body… included nanite explosives if her powers were ever used against him. He also placed a block that would prevent her body from Ascending; all so that she could never escape his grasp.

Then, after he cloned Adria, he placed a cloned Quetesh into her body. His heart jumped when Adria opened her eyes and then glowed orange. A smirk appeared on her face before she was led out of the cloning chamber with Ba'al holding onto her hand.

"Ba'al," Quetesh said looking at her new body, and then back up at her fellow System Lord, and then at all the other Jaffa that were in the chamber bowing their heads down. She then turned back to Ba'al with a smirk and a tilted head, "I see you have been busy."

"Come, my queen," Ba'al said as he held out his hand. A hand that Quetesh grabbed before she was led out of the small chamber, "we have work to do."

It had taken the two of them years, as the last two system lords, to develop an Ori power source using Ascended knowledge- all thanks to Adria's memories. Following the creation of the power source which rivalled a ZPM and the shield enhancements, Ba'al brought forward plans on his greatest coup thanks to the Trust infiltration in the IOA; research on Tau'ri weapons development thanks to the data in the Sunnydale Ancient Outpost, as well as the outpost in Death Valley, and the initial stages of Tau'ri research on the Ancient drones.

Ba'al wanted a way to lessen the effective of the drone, the ultimate weapon the Tau'ri had in their arsenal. And he was certain that, with Quetesh's cunning and Adria's ascended knowledge, he would be able to develop a shielding system to prevent the phasing weapons to be rendered ineffective. For centuries, the both of them plotted their revenge with a handful of Jaffa among them.

Then came the day that Ba'al came across information that Anubis had been conducting a classified experiment up till his 'death'. Ba'al discovered Anubis' experiment, a prototype weapon- a living weapon genetically engineered to be grown into a near ascended state of evolution. These living weapons would be cloned and then they would be ascended to go to war with the Ancients. At least that was the plan that Anubis had. Ba'al and Quetesh discovered the prototype weapon, Khalek, two hundred and seventy four years ago and used his genetic code to create more clones. So that they could be controlled, Ba'al nullified their near ascended abilities by genetically engineering their DNA. They were still highly durable, but they retained no use of the other abilities associated with near ascension such as Telekinesis, telepathy, rapid healing, heightened senses, and energy manipulation.

But even without those gifts, they were formidable warriors. With the Tau'ri having left Earth and gone, Ba'al assumed, into hiding, his first mission was to subdue the Lucien Alliance.

That he did, by wiping them out using the clones as his new Kull warrior army. With no other immediate threat, he and Quetesh built up their forces for the next two hundred odd years. And now, the time had come to announce their return. The new, ascended knowledge based 'dimensional' shields had done its job adequately. The shields withstood the impacts from the Tau'ri's ultimate weapon, the Ancient Drones, and were holding even though their power had been drained by stopping the Drones.

Ba'al pointed a finger at his First Prime who said that the plasma pulse weapons all around the ship's hull were ready to be fired. When the Goa'uld system Lord started to brag, broadcasting to all ships, about how he preferred that the people of Earth were his slaves, the man turned his head and stared at the First Prime. He then nodded his head and brought his arm down, signalling the First Prime to fire all pulse weapons while the main weapon- the Ori enhanced Eye of the Gods- was being recharged.

**Persephone, at that same time.**

The Pegasus Alliance ships continued firing all their weapons, chipping away at the energy shields that surrounded Ba'al's mothership. This led to several questions forming in Lisa's mind in regards to what the System Lord and Quetesh developed using the latter's ascended knowledge. She knew that General O'Neill and the Slayers had to board the ship not only to retrieve Ba'al so that they could question him on the location of his command center; the Alliance needed to download information on the enhancements made so that their ships could be able to better defend against any other surprises that could pop up over the coming years.

As the massive Goa'uld motherships' shield continued to flare from Alliance weapons fire, Lisa knew that there were only shields of two major races that could have prevented the drones from working as intended; the Ancient and Asgard shields. Lisa remembered hearing about how Thor was kidnapped by Anubis hundreds of years ago, and the Goa'uld downloaded information on various types of Asgard technology from his mind. She was also very aware that Ba'al used to work for Anubis, and that after his disappearance, Ba'al took over his Kull warriors and had access to knowledge of Asgard technology.

'It just took him this long, and Adria's help to deploy the shielding tech using Asgard and Ori knowledge,' thought Lisa to herself before looking at another screen while the Pegasus alliance ships, including the Aurora class vessels, continued firing their energy weapons systems and missiles. 'Shields are regenerating, and we're continuing to fire our weapons. And the mothership? Well, the Mothership's just standing there and…"

The Persephone then started to shake as the mothership fired yellow pulses of plasma from turrets all along its hull. However, the damage to the Persephone's shield weren't as extensive with the hits from the plasma weapons. She was thankful that the main weapon was still being recharged, but it was that particular weapon which needed to be disabled.

Lisa then turned to her left while Ancient beam weapons and missiles hit the shields of the mothership, "prepare to beam the Horizon weapons to the Galactica."

"Ma'am," Major Daniels said nodding his head.

Lisa was sure that there would be a meeting on the after-action reports they were going to file on how arrogant they were to believe that all the Goa'uld were destroyed. It was that belief that enabled the Pegasus Alliance to ignore the Milky Way, and focus all their attention on the Wraith. Lisa knew that they had spent centuries understanding the Ancient database in Atlantis, and once they did, only then were they able to improve their shields to battle the Wraith threat. It was through centuries of understanding the Ancient technology that the Tau'ri were able to improve their weapons systems, their engines, shields, and hyperdrive. However, they believed the Ori threat to have been neutralized, no one thought that Ba'al could have cloned Adria's body, and as a result have access to Ascended knowledge.

It was a perfect storm the Tau'ri didn't anticipate.

"Continue firing," ordered Lisa as the Persephone continued to fire her missiles, pulse, and Ancient beam weapons while the Goa'uld mothership fired pulses of yellow energy, shaking the Persephone, and the other Alliance vessels. As a result, the Goa'uld weapons fire slowed down the shield recharge rate. 'Huh, a ZPM versus an Ori power source; this is gonna be interesting.' Lisa then was told that the Horizon weapons, five from the Persephone and five from the Vantage were beamed to the Galactica and were being loaded onto the waiting Raptors.

**Galactica, Orbit over Earth.**

The Mercury class Battlestar Galactica was firing all her weapons at the Mothership while the recently beamed over Horizon's from the Persephone and the Vantage were being loaded onto the hard spots on the hull of five Raptors. The nose section of the ten bullet shaped weapons were being quickly disassembled in the Flight deck, which was shielded from the dangers of space thanks to the shield that protected the crew working on the runway under atmosphere. The ship shook slightly while being bombarded by the Mothership's weapons as Apollo yelled over the speakers in the port flight pod that the deck crew had three minutes to launch the Raptors before the mothership's main weapon was recharged.

"Move it, all of you!" yelled the Chief of the Deck, Bridgette Keyes, as she waved her arms and signalled the deck crew in charge of the Raptors to finish loading the weapons. While Chief Keyes was supervising the arming of the weapons, the pilots were receiving orders from Apollo to take full control of the enhanced Naquadria filled missiles housed within the Horizon platform. Once the pilots had a stable connecting to the weapons control system in what remained of the bullet shaped weapons delivery system after removal of the 'nose', revealing the pointed, dark grey, missiles that were all together capable of destroying an entire large continent.

"This is Raptor 122 to Galactica Actual," said the lead pilot once his systems showed a connection to the weapons system.

"This is Actual," Apollo said as he looked at the hologram in the CIC being projected from a pedestal in the middle of the room. He was surround by officers behind several different consoles all around him, quiet murmurs from the officers could be heard relaying orders from another section of the CIC to send the ship to the port side.

"Raptor 122 leader reporting, sir. We're ready to fly."

"Launch all Raptors when ready," said Apollo into his headset while he was tapping on the hologram in front of him. The hologram then zoomed to several areas on the Goa'uld mothership, to show the location of the pulse weapons, the main weapon and the reactor, the shield generators, and the hyperdrive The information on the targets was then shared with the other ships in the Alliance, "orders are to jump in between the shields, and then fire away at the interior shield. The Horizon weapons have been put to their maximum yield so.. so once you fire, jump out immediately. Raptors 122 through 127, do you copy?"

"Yes, sir," all five voices said at once.

"May the gods be with you," Apollo said as the Raptors flew off into space one after another. They fired their RCS thrusters to get off the deck and then fired their fusion drives to propel themselves through the Flight Deck, and then passed a shimmer – the shield- before finding themselves in open space. The lead pilot, Captain Jayce Stevens, was in control of Raptor 122 in the lead of the other four which had taken up position on either side of his ship. As they headed for the flashing Shields of the Goa'uld mothership, all thanks to weapon fire from the Pegasus alliance, Captain Stevens saw a hyperspace window open up before the Melbourne exited and went on straight for the planet below. He watched the Mothership fire on the Melbourne with its plasma pulse weapons. The pulses hit the shields while the computers on the Captain's Raptor took that time to detect the borders of the inner and outer shield, and then automatically plotted a course to jump into the middle.

"All Raptors," the Captain said as the Pegasus Alliance ships fired continuously, so much so that the scanners were reading that the out shield was down to seventy percent while the inner shield was down to seventy five. The Captain then took a deep breath while the Chulak class ships protected some of the damaged Federation ships from being destroyed. "Jump!"

**Voyager, that same time.**

Seven picked herself off the floor while the side of her face stung. The last thing she remembered was being flung into a wall after the ship suffered a massive jolt after having been hit three times with weapons fire from a Ha'tak class vessel. She grabbed the side of a console, and looked at the two unconscious, but breathing, bodies on the floor as she stood up on unsteady legs before stumbling to the console in front of the massive display that was showing her the battle over Earth. Seven still felt different in her new body, and getting used to the pain and the feeling of blood trickling down from a cut to the side of her head was something to get used to.

She stumbled to the central console at the edge of the astrometrics platform while the ship lurched to port. Seven grabbed the side of the console as her heart raced while Voyager, along with four other Federation and five Romulan vessels fired weapons, both phaser and disrupters, at the attacking Ha'tak vessels until the Goa'uld ships blew up.

"Captain," mumbled Seven as she looked at the astrometrics screen in front of her which showed the ship they had just destroyed breaking up, "that was the last enemy ship."

"Understood," Janeway said as the alarmed on the bridge rang out while smoke rose from the tactical and port sections of the bridge following small explosions. Janeway then walled for the Doctor while she limped to her chair while Chakotay was helping her. "How's our other orbital guest?"

"The Pegasus ships are still firing on the shields," said the former drone as she brought up sensor logs on the yellow dots that smashed against the shields of the Goa'uld mothership minutes earlier. She noticed that the dots, a squid shaped weapon, was slightly out of phase when it approached the shields… but they were still blocked. Seven looked through the data while she observed other sensor reading showing the launching of the Raptors from the Galactica, and then there was the coming of the Melbourne.

Seven was breathing in and out while blood rushed through her body as she focused on the Raptors. "Captain, sensors are reading some sort of nuclear ordinance on those fighters."

Before Janeway could respond, Paris turned and told her that the Vantage was broadcasting a general alert.

"On speakers."

**Vantage, a few seconds earlier.**

"Get ready, Old Man," Jon told General O'Neill who then nodded his head before he rushed to the locker room where Daniel and a team where prepared to move out. Jon then turned back to the Tactical display which showed his shields as being at thirty percent, with half of his weapons operational; and all those weapons were continuously being fired. There were several hull breaches from the earlier firing of the mothership's main weapon… with similar damage to the other Pegasus Alliance ships.

Jon saw the Raptors jump into the space between the inner and outer shields while he ordered that a channel be opened to the fleet, both from Pegasus and the Federation Alliance, "this is General Jon O'Neill of the Vantage. All ships, raise your shields and prepare for nuclear detonation." He then closed the line before connecting to Dawn in Atlantis on a scrambled line.

"Dawn," said Jon as he watched the Raptors jump away after launching the missiles towards the interior shield, "target the mothership. Prepare to fire two hundred drones on my order. Aim for the shield and weapons generators. And then I want the primary weapon taken out."

"Got it," said Dawn as weapon fire from the death gliders were hitting the Atlantis shields while being engaged in dogfights with the Arrows, Vipers, and the Peregrine fighters. Dawn pointed at one of her technicians and ordered her to target the generators. Just as she finished speaking, there was a brilliant white flash of light as the missiles hit the interior shield of the mothership. The sensors in all the Federation Alliance ships went off the scale with even Data and Laforge on the crippled Enterprise checking the data being collected on the destructive power of the nuclear weapons.

And their sensors were correct, even if some, like the Romulans, believed that they were getting incorrect readings. The Tau'ri fire power from the ten Horizon platforms were enough to cause an extinction level event if fired on a planet. The immense power and electromagnetic pulse rippled through the inner shield of the Goa'uld mothership and fed back into the shield emitters and power conduits resulting in power surges, many of which caused explosions in the interiors of the ship taking many Jaffa with them. There were explosions in the generator rooms for both the inner and outer shields, the debris from the exploding generators acting as shrapnel destroying one generator after another while the mother ship shook violently.

Ba'al fell onto the ground, as did many of his Jaffa and Kull Warriors while explosion occurred all over the ship. The Jaffa in the command center were still struggling to stand as the ship groaned looked up at him before saying that the outer shields were fluctuating. And then there was an explosion as a section of the ceiling in the command room fell, killing the Jaffa who just spoke. Sparks then showered into the room when, back in the Vantage, Jon just learned that the outer shields of the Goa'uld mothership were fluctuating.

"We're detecting explosions inside the ship," cried one of the bridge officers as Jon gave a small smirk.

"All ships! Continue pounding them!" yelled Jon yelled as the Vantage, Persephone and then other Aurora class ships, the Galactica, the Jaffa's Chulak Class ships, the Asgard ships, and a combination of the Federation, Romulan, Vulcan, and Andorian vessels fired at the mothership. The shields flared as most weapons fire went through; some photon torpedoes and phaser went through the shields causing explosions in the hull while several blasts of plasma energy shattered sections of the hull while some of the Ancient beams from the Aurora class ships and the beam weapons from the Asgard vessels tore through the 'petals' which focused the energy of the main weapon, "Atlantis, launch drones!"

"Fire!" yelled Dawn, back in Atlantis, into her earpiece as Major Bartlett used the Ancient Chair to fire the weapons. The doors at the end of the south pier opened up as two hundred drones, yellow squid-shaped weapons, flew out in a straight column to the surprise of the pilots of the Peregrine Federation fighters. The column of yellow turned to three columns as it passed the Federation Alliance ships and the Pegasus Alliance vessels while the Melbourne, having sent it's package to the surface, turned to the mothership and began firing her Ancient beam weapons, missiles, and plasma bursts. The shield surround the mothership was flaring up while instruments showed that it was fluctuating wildly, resulting in sporadic weapons fire breaking through. And since the inner shields were now disabled, there were explosions on the hull and the 'petals', which started to tear off from the main weapon.

Sensors detected thousands of hull breaches in all along the mothership from the detonating of the Horizon weapons resulting in explosive decompressions that ejected hundreds of Jaffa and Kull Warriors into the vacuum of space. The damage to the ship was further exacerbated by the drones which passed through the weakened outer shield to the cheer of the bridge crew from the Pegasus Alliance ships while the Federation Alliance could only stare at their sensors in stunned silence. The drones then passed through the outer shield, and then penetrated the hull. They destroyed the remaining shield generators, the weapons control systems, the main weapon- the entire section was torn off as the drones perforated the hull multiple times until what used to be the upper dome was torn off and floating in space. The Drones took out the Hyperdrive as well so that Ba'al could not escape.

"Yes!" yelled Jon as he punched the air once the ship was confirmed to be disabled. "All ships, hold fire." He then ordered a transport lock onto Ba'al. "can we get him back here?"

"No, sir," said an officer. Jon listened as the man, Lieutenant Hernandez, explained that their transportation sensors couldn't get a lock on him. Jon nodded his head before sending a message to General O'Neill that he needed to be ready- he and his team were going to board the ship and capture Ba'al, "the Stargate's still active, so we need to get him alive for questioning. This is a race against the clock, I'm sure the Federation guys will be forming teams to board Ba'al's ship."

"That's what's I'd do," General O'Neill said while he put on a set of armour.

"You have two minutes," said Jon before contacting the other Pegasus ships on a scrambled line. In the meantime, there were explosions from where the drones pierced through the ship before decompression sucked out more Jaffa and Kull warriors out of the decks that had been smashed through by the drones.

**Persephone, now.**

Lisa punched the air as she watched the drones destroy the weapons, shield generations and the mothership's hyperdrive. The war was essentially over, now the mothership was powerless and all they had to do was collect data on what Ba'al did to improve his shields and weapons. They then, in her opinion, needed to destroy the data. It was all so that neither the Federation nor any of the others races in the milky Way, especially the Borg, could not get at it. The other job was to destroy all information on the hyperdrive so that Pegasus would be safe while the Alliance went back n work on improving their defensive and offensive capabilities.

Buffy's youngest daughter then sighed in relief before she placed her hands on her hips and looked around at the crew cheering in the bridge. Suddenly, she then had a sense of deja-vu as she narrowed her eyes at Major Daniels shaking another officer's hands while patting her shoulder. He was saying 'good job' before he cheered and hugged the young woman, Captain Wells. With a weight falling on her shoulders as she recalled the dream she had years after being activated, Lisa then turned and listened to the sounds of cheering all around her. It seemed so surreal as Lisa closed her eyes and recalled the dream.

It was a couple days before the time dilation devices were due to be turned off, and Lisa found herself having a picnic with her parents, her brother and sister, her extended aunts and uncles. Everything seemed real to her; even the warm breeze that brushed past her arm while her brother and father were barbequing. She was siting next to Buffy at a wooden table while Willow, Giles, Faith, Anya, Daniel, and Tara surrounded her as they joked and laughed. Lisa looked over her shoulder at her aunt and uncle, Rose and Jay played with their kids while Tara's adopted daughter, Camille, was painting a skyline she hadn't seen before.

Lisa smiled, not caring about the place she was dreaming about, as she turned back to her mother. She lay the side of her head on Buffy's shoulders when there was a suddenly red flash in the sky. Lisa quickly pulled her head up to then sky and stared at the sun. She then saw a black dot forming, "mom? Aunt Willow?" Lisa looked back down and saw that the others were continuing on as if there was nothing happening. She then turned and called for Xander, but he didn't answer… even when the air started to get hotter.

It was then that Lisa heard sounds of people cheering and clapping. She heard a muffled voice in the distance saying 'good job' and 'we did it' while there were others saying 'it's over'. The sounds of cheering were coming from all around as she spun around searching for the source. Suddenly, there was a 'boom' from the sky and Lisa turned, lifted her head, and watched in horror as a massive stream of orange and white shot towards her. She felt her body burning from the fire before she snapped her eyes open and shot up in bed.

Back in the present day, 'It's not over yet,' Lisa thought as she spun and stared at the goings-on around her. She then turned to Major Daniel's and ordered him to run a full spectrum scan, "set course for the sun. I want to know…"

"Ma'am?" asked Major Daniels.

"Set course for the sun, full military thrust. Channel power from all weapons and the hyperdrive to the shields. And get me a secure line to the Vantage, Galactica, Belisknir, and Atlantis."

"Ma'am?" asked Daniels.

"Do it, that's an ord…"

The alarms on the bridge started to blare once again before Lisa could finish what she wanted to say when there was a massive flash from the direction of the sun. Everyone on the bridge stopped celebrating as they rushed to their consoles.

"A weapons platform just decloaked and fired a high yield burst into the sun," yelled Nakamura.

"We're detecting a rising prominence on the surface of the sun!" yelled Daniels while Lisa ordered engines to full. Daniels, then turned to Lisa with eyes wide open in horror, "sensors are showing the prominence is about to collapse. We have one minute before a massive Coronal Mass Ejection streams towards Earth, ma'am."

Lisa knew there wasn't any time to waste. She rushed to the Command Chair and sat down. She activated it as the seat pushed back. She then checked power levels and accessed all emergency controls. The bridge was now shut out, with Lisa taking full control as she closed her eyes and activated the emergency beam out protocols.

"Col…" Daniels wasn't able to finish what he wanted to say before he was washed in white light. Lisa targeted everyone on the ship and transported then to the Vantage and three of the other Aurora class ships; the Sunnydale, Tsun TSu, and the Ganges.

"Major?" asked Jon as Major Daniels appeared on the bridge and then turned to see the Persephone enter hyperspace, and then come out in orbit of the sun.

"Persephone!" yelled Jon as alarms blared in his bridge just as General O'Neill and his team were beamed over to the mothership. Daniels rushed over to Jon while the others from the Persephone were looking at each other confused.

"I had a dream.. I mean I didn't know until now what it was about and…" said Lisa through the Vantage's speakers as she rerouted all power from weapons, life support on every deck, and interior shields to the still recharging shields that hugged the ship. "shields are at fifty seven percent and rising. I can block the stream for a few minutes, sir."

"This is Atlantis," said Dawn as alarms were going off in Stargate Operations while she stared at a screen with a stunned look on her face, "Jon, are you getting this?"

"Yea," Jon replied while Seven, Data, Laforge, and everyone on the other ships watched as the prominence continued to rise, "I…"

"It's a coronal mass ejection," cried out Dawn into her headset. She knew that the shield could cover a vast section of the planet, which meant that there were hundreds of thousands who were still going to die. She also knew that the injured and damaged ships still had people on board, and they would be in danger too even if the other ships warp away or entered hyperspace. Dawn had only a few seconds to think before turning to her technicians and asking them how long it would take for the survivors on the damaged ships to be beamed away.

"Two minutes, but… oh no.." the young man looked at the console in front of him after it beeped. Dawn then turned and stared at the screen as the curves prominence stopped rising while the Persephone was just above it, and then it began collapsing.

"Emergency launch procedures, now!" yelled Dawn. There wasn't time to beam everyone away, and the shield wouldn't be able to protect the entire planet. Dawn knew that Atlantis' shield was the only thing that would be able to divert the stream that was about to come their way. The city started to shake while she told Starfleet Command to get the Peregrine Fighters out of Atlantis' exit vector, "all Slayers, take cover. Retracting shield for emergency take-off."

"Ma'am!" cried out Hernish, one of the technicians who looked up at her with eyes wide open in horror, "the prominence has collapse. We're detecting a charged particle stream heading directly for the Persephone."

"Lisa!" yelled Dawn as the shield retracted while Atlantis was in the air. The orange dome surrounded the city-ship as the Stardrive fired, shooting the ship into the sky. "Lisa! Do you hear me!"

Dawn then turned and demanded to know how long Lisa had before the Persephone's shield failed.

"According to our readings," said another technician, Goran, looking directly at Dawn who was panting, "the stream will last for five hours… give or take an hour. And that's approx…"

"And the Persephone?" asked Dawn as her heart raced, "what about the Persephone?:

"Current shield levels? She'll last three minutes… we're already detecting a temperature build up behind the shield, and the hull is starting to buckled at the bow," said Hernish as Atlantis entered orbit. All the ships detected the coming storm, with the Romulans, at least the ships still operational, warped away leaving behind the ones that were damaged. Seven detected the stream that was being diverted by the Persephone as did Data and several science officers while the Melbourne, the Tianjiang, the Petersburg; the Asgard ships, the O'Neill Two, the Valhalla, and three of the Chulak class ships flew towards the planet on Jon's orders so that they could extend their shields to protect the majority of San Francisco and Oakland while the Arrows and Federation fighters continued to take the death gliders.

"Dawn, Dawn," Buffy's voice came through the speaker as she and several other Slayers took cover while Death Glider fired on the Starfleet campus and the cities. Once the shield was retracted, several Death Gliders strafed the Starfleet Command campus forcing the need for cover as Josie was crouching next to Buffy speaking into her headset, "what's going on? We almost cleared this section, and…"

"A Coronal Mass Ejection is coming this way, Buffy," said Dawn as Atlantis hurtled towards the sun. She bit the bottom of her lip in nervousness before speaking once again, "it's Lisa. She took the Persephone to block the particle stream. It's bought us some time."

"Dawn…" whispered Buffy as her heart raced when she recalled the brilliant flash of light in the sky mere moments ago, "is.. is she…."

"She's a Summers, Buffy, we're stubborn," said Dawn gently, as Atlantis was twenty seconds away from the sun after passing past mercury, "she had to get really close so that she could block the stream before it fanned out and.."

"I'm getting a faint life sign," said another technician.

"Buffy," Dawn said nodding her head, "we have a life-sign, and… and we're gonna get her back."

Buffy closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before she nodded her head. She closed the line with her sister before peeking around the side of the wall behind which they were taking cover.

"Is everything alright?" asked Josie as she looked at Buffy who was peeking out the side of the wall.

"My daughter's up there," she replied when her ear piece buzzed again as a faint orange glow washed over them.

"This is Colonel Shang of the Tianjiang to all Slayers, you are covered."

"Come on," said Buffy as she walked out of cover while Josie followed behind her. "Faith, Rona? You guys got that?"

"Yeah, B," Faith replied as she and several others, including the SG teams, got out of cover, "we're fine."

"All Slayers," Buffy said as she glanced at the sun, "we're almost done."

TBC.

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Paris, Earth.**

Pain travelled through Willow and Vala's bodies as Quetesh tightened her mental grip on their hearts. Willow gritted her teeth while using her own telekinetic abilities to try prying the 'fingers' off her own heart and those around Vala's heart as well. She was, at the same time, fighting off an attack that threatened to break through her mental defences.

It felt like thousands of dangers were being smashed through her mental defences while she and Vala opened their mouths to gasp for air. Sweat covered Willow's forehead as they waited, in pain, for the Melbourne to exit hyperspace and deposit the Ark of Truth and an anti-Prior weapon.

It would be a few seconds later that the three of them heard a screeching sound, followed by a flash of bright white light.

And just as it appeared, the fingers around the hearts of Willow and Vala were gone. Willow opened her eyes and pulled back her head to glare at a surprised Quetesh. The redhead panted as blood started to once again rush through her body. She could hear the 'thump' of blood rushing behind her ears as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, and then exhaled when she heard a groan. Willow then turned her head and looked at a groaning Vala before the both of them slowly got up to their feet while Quetesh rubbed the sides of her head in confusion as she took a few steps back. Willow knew what was going on; Quetesh had her powers nullified, and the shock of not being able to use her powers was slightly dizzying.

And Willow should know, especially since she was feeling dizzy as well from having her mental abilities suddenly nullified too.

However, the redhead didn't want to show it. She glanced at Vala and their eyes met. The two had fought together, served together on SG-1 enough times to know what the other was thinking without needing telepathy. Vala nodded her head and rushed for the Ark. Quetesh regained her balance and glared at Vala running towards the Ark, and yelled, "No!" Quetesh then took off running after Vala while Willow ran after Quetesh, her legs pumping against the floor as hard as possible to reach the former Orici.

"Adria!" yelled Willow as she tackled Quetesh to the ground just as the latter was about to grab onto Vala. The two of them fell on the floor just as Vala placed her hand on the top of the Ark. Vala looked to the left as Quetesh and Willow rolled on the floor. Vala then turned back to the Ark while Willow lay with her back on the floor with Adria on top, straddling her as she delivered a punch across Willow's face.

And then another one. And another one.

Willow blocked the third punch with her left arm and swung with her right so that her fist hit the side of Adria's face. Adria's head snapped to the right thanks to the impact of Willow's fist, and then she was shoved off. Adria quickly got to her feet while Willow lifted her legs up and then pushed herself off the floor while Quetesh rushed after Vala once again.

Willow ran once again after her and tackled Quetesh to the floor. Willow was now on top of the former Orici as she struggled to hold Adria down while the latter flailed her hands about. Willow needed Quetesh to be conscious, which was the only way the Ark could work. However, Quetesh was resisting; punching Willow's side repeatedly.

"Ah!" Willow yelped after the second hit as Quetesh flipped her over while Vala finished pressing the buttons. The dome on the cover of the Ark glowed red, indicating to Vala that the code she input was correct. As Vala opened the cover to the Ark, the former Orici was on top of Willow and had started to strangle her. The redhead felt her breathing restricted as two thumbs pressed down on her trachea. Quetesh's eyes glowed as she stared down the redhead and hissed through gritted teeth, "I can feel Adria's anger. She wants to be the one doing this, Athena. But I am the one who will be getting satisfaction from keeping her away and killing you. And then I kill Vala, and then…."

Willow reached up and grabbed Quetesh's neck, making the woman stop talking, with one hand. The redhead pushed through the pain as she punched the side of Quetesh's face with her other hand. She continued to punch again and again. The both of them had blood trickling down the sides of their lips as a result of the punches being delivered by each other.

'Thwack,' Quetesh's head snapped to the side as Willow punched Quetesh again. And then again until the grip around Willow's neck weakened. It was then, once the cover to the Ark was completely open that Vala rushed around the Ark and ran to Willow's aid.

With Quetesh's back to her, Vala reached down and then put Quetesh into a stranglehold from behind as Vala's arm crossed over Quetesh's neck. She then raised her off Willow, "stop struggling Adria, or else you'll stop breathing!" Vala then tightened her arm into Quetesh's neck while she twisted one of the latter's arms behind her back. Willow then quickly got up off the floor and delivered a punch across Quetesh's face before grabbing, and then squeezing her lower jaw tight.

"Stop fighting!" hissed Willow as she stared at Quetesh while Vala subdued her from behind. Vala's arm was around Quetesh's neck, and her arm was pulled back. Quetesh stopped struggling as she panted and stared at Willow, whose hand gripped the lower part of her face tight, with eyes full of hatred.

"It's over, Adria," Willow, panting, said as the former Orici narrowed her eyes at the redhead while Vala whispered that the Ark was ready.

Willow quickly darted a hand towards Adria's throat, grabbed the choker, and then pulled it off before throwing it over her shoulder. Quetesh saw the amulet, a piece of the Palace of the Gods on the planet Celestis, attached to the black choker fall onto the floor with a 'clink' sound. Her eyes, full of rage, shifted back to Willow.

"You end today, Quetesh," Willow said, "no more Goa'uld, and then no more Ori." Willow then glanced at Vala and nodded her head. Vala then forced Quetesh around, pushing her forward while Willow held onto Quetesh's upper arm and dragged her forward while she was screaming.

"No! Stop! No! I am a god! I am a god!"

"Sure you are," Vala whispered as she and Willow dragged Adria to the Ark. Vala then, once they were close, pushed Quetesh's head down to stare at the inside of the Ark. Willow too had her hand on the back of Quetesh's head while the latter screamed.

"You're making a mistake," Adria bellowed as her eyes glowed while staying into the darkness within the Ark.

However, where there should have been a light that activated from inside to stream the 'truth' directly into the mind of the ones who needed to be reprogrammed with information that the Ori were false deities, there was nothing.

When Quetesh looked into the opening, the light didn't activate. Vala stared at Quetesh whose shoulders were trembling as she continued looking into the opening of the ark before mockingly saying, "Oh no, please. Don't. No. You're making a big mistake. Mother, no."

Willow was standing to the left as Quetesh then started to laugh.

Willow and Vala stared at each other with their eyes opened wide in stunned silence. Questesh's laughter echoed throughout the chamber as Vala let go of her daughter and stood back while shaking her head. Willow and Vala watched Quetesh grab the edges of the Ark as she laughed hysterically while shaking her head.

"I know about the Ark!" Adria laughed as she continued to stare into the darkness within the Ark, "and it will not work on me." Calming down in a few seconds, Quetesh then looked up and stared at Vala and Willow with pure rage and hate in her eyes, "my host knows about the Ark. And she knows the truth about the Ori. She knows what the Ori really are... but she still served them willingly. The Ark was never going to work on this body. You failed, Athena, Vala. The both of you failed because this is my body. And I will stay here."

"Then we'll tranquillize you, and put you into prison when we get back to Lantea," Willow said as Vala reached out into her holster and took out a weapon that looked similar to a Desert Eagle used hundreds of years ago. "And once we get back to Pegasus, we…"

"I would rather…" Quetesh dashed forward towards Willow. But she was interrupted by Vala who was very aware that they had no idea how long the Anti-Prior weapon would last against her daughter. She aimed the weapon, which they hadn't used earlier since they needed Quetesh conscious for the Ark to work, and prepared to fire.

"You will do nothing, Quetesh," Vala said as she depressed the trigger. Instead of a bullet being shot out of the barrel, a ball of charged energy shot out and hit Quetesh. She closed her eyes, groaned, and then collapsed onto the floor as blue energy crackled on her body while both Willow and Vala panted. The latter woman then walked over to the Ark, which she realised to her disappointed was never needed, and then walked over to the Anti-Prior weapon and turned it off. Once the lights on the device at the edge of the device blinked for the last time, Willow felt her powers return.

However, there was a slight problem.

They didn't have the location of the planet the Stargate in the Presidio was connected. And according to earlier reports, there were still impact strikes on the shield covering the event horizon. Willow then sighed and turned to Vala who had her hands at the edges of the Ark after she closed the cover. The woman stared at the symbols in the dome, on the cover, and then hung her head.

"I thought this could work," Vala whispered shaking her head.

"We didn't think it through, Vala," Willow replied taking the four steps towards her friend, "it was a decision we made at the last minute. But it was worth a try."

"We should have known that she already knew the truth about the Ori," Vala whispered shaking her head before looking behind her at the unconscious Quetesh, and then back at Willow who pursed her lips together. The redhead didn't know what to say, but she knew that Vala was right. They should have known. It was another failure in their hurry to defend Earth from the Ori and the Goa'uld.

She knew that there would be a lot of questions that needed to be answered.

But Willow could relax a little with the knowledge that Quetesh was stopped. They may not have been able to reprogram her, but the Ori were finally stopped. Quetesh would languish in prison where they could use nanites to nullify her power while she lived out her life in a Virtual Reality prison.

As several thoughts ran through her mind, Willow stopped at one in particular that would enable Vala to have her daughter back in another way.

"The Ark was programmed for Priors to see the truth, that the Ori were not gods and that they would not ascend people to the higher planes," Willow whispered as she lay a hand on Vala's shoulder, "that's the key word, Vala. It was 'programmed'. Which means it could be reprogrammed to do whatever we want."

Vala then turned her head towards Willow with an inquisitive look on her face.

"We never thought about reprogramming it because… well… it worked like it was supposed to for us," Willow continued as Valla turned towards the redhead and tilted her head while looking on thoughtfully, "but if we could reprogram it? Then we could have Adria forget about the Ori. I mean completely forget about who she is… what she is."

"Can't you just rewrite her mind?" asked Vala.

"You know I can't," Willow answered shaking her head, "I can't read her mind while the Goa'uld is in there. And I can't rewrite her mind once we get it out because… well… she is an Ori. She could unconsciously undo my mental fixes to her memories. It's better to reprogram the Ark. And then once we do… we use it on her. It would completely change who she is, Vala. And once we've finished using it, we then throw it back into the Omega site."

"We're talking about taking away who she is," Vala whispered, "I know she's Ori, I know she's my daughter, but…"

"It's something to think about," Willow said as she looked at the unconscious Adria, and then at Vala, "I leave it up to you. If you don't want to do that? We'll neutralise her powers, and she'll remain imprisoned for the rest of her life as Adria the Orici. She's too dangerous to be running free."

"I know," Vala whispered as she walked towards her daughter, and then crouched down to place a hand on her left cheek. Vala knew she had a lot to think about. She then stood back up while staring at her unconscious daughter. Vala and Willow were aware that Adria was fully unconscious, even the symbiote was unconscious, as they turned and walked towards the Ark.

Willow tapped on the earpiece she was wearing and was about to call for a beam out when the two of them stopped walking. Vala and Willow looked at each other upon hearing a groaning sound throughout the chamber, followed by a tremor, and then the floor beneath them started to shake. Vala spun on her heels and stared in stunned silence as Adria's eyes snapped open while Willow rushed to the Anti-Prior device to reactivate it. However before Willow could even take another step, just before reaching the device with her outstretched hands, it was explosively shattered. An explosion so violent that Willow formed a shield around herself and Vala to guard against the flying debris that penetrated the walls.

Vala stepped back as Adria started to get back on her feet. The Orici glared at her mother while her eyes burned red as the latter stood next to Willow who turned around and faced the Orici. The redhead felt the air ripple before her skin felt a burning sensation. Suddenly, Adria released a loud bloodcurdling scream along with a massive telekinetic burst that tore the Ark apart. Willow raised a shield around herself and Vala, but that did nothing to prevent them from being flung backwards.

The two of them rolled in the air until they were stopped by their shoulders slamming against the seats, and then they rolled and slammed into another row of seats. The both of them then dropped down to the footpath in between the rows as Willow lowered the shield and groaned. She rubbed the side of her head as she lay on the floor while Vala groaned behind her in another row.

While she watched Willow and Vala groaning in pain, Adria reached out with one of her hands and then slowly brought it to the base of her neck. Her consciousness had been trying to break through Quetesh's hold on her very being ever since she was awakened, and now.. with Quetesh disabled… Adria's consciousness pushed itself through. It was all thanks to Adria's will power, and her hate for both Willow and her mother.

Adria had 'seen' Quetesh fail, and she was angry... Adria was enraged that Quetesh dared to attempt vengeance instead of her. She laughed when Quetesh fell since she was never able to access the full power of an Orici… Adria may not have been able to control her own body, but she was able to hold back sufficient power as an act of defiance.

And now? Now Adria herself was free to get rid of the creature and regain control of her body. Adria remained calm while staring at Vala who was slowly pulling herself up to her feet.

While staring at her daughter, Vala limped to the stairs that would bring her to one row down so that she could help Willow to her feet. Adria stared at her mother while her hand hovered over the base of her neck and glowed red. Adria gritted her teeth as she felt the symbiote at the base of her neck vibrate and heat up.

But Adria pushed through the pain as she stifled a scream while the symbiote slowly burned away. The remainder of the creature then was absorbed into her blood stream. Adria felt a tingling sensation go through her whole body as she panted while bring her hand down by her side; she was finally in control as she turned her head and smiled at the shattered remains of the Ark and the Anti-Prior device. She then turned and stared at her choker which lay on the floor. She lifted a hand, and then mentally pulled it towards her while Willow was pulled up to her feet.

"Get out of here," Willow rasped while preparing a massive mental attack at Adria. She stared at Vala who suddenly had her eyes wide opened while grabbing her own neck. Before she could say anything, Willow felt a lump in her throat blocking her airway. Her eyes open wide as she gripped onto her own throat while staring at Vala.

"Feel that?" asked Adria as she aimed a fist at the both of them while mentally attaching the choker to her neck, "mother? It is so good to finally see you again. I see you're still working against me even after all this time. I am so disappointed in you." Adria then looked at Willow who stumbled sideways and leaned against the seats in front of her while sweat started to pour down her cheeks while she felt spikes being driven through her mental defences. They were torn apart as her concentration was lost while what felt like daggers were being stabbed into her mind, "and Athena. Still so weak?"

Willow closed her eyes and gripped the seats while her lips were slowly turning blue. Her lungs were burning, begging for air, while she heard mental screams from Vala who was stumbling towards her until she grabbed the redhead's hand. It was a surprise for both of them. They believed that Adria was being supressed by the Goa'uld, and would have still been suppressed even if the Goa'uld was unconscious.

Willow continued to try concentrate while blinding pain tore through her head from Adria's mental assault. She was trying to gather as much power as she could while her mind, her lungs, her skin, and her legs burned from lack of oxygen. In the meantime, Vala's trembling hands reached for her holster, and took out the Tau'ri version of a Zat gun. She lifted her arms and placed it on the edge of the top section of the seats in front of her. Vala pressed the trigger. A burst was fired. A burst that impacted against Adria's personal shield emitted from the choker.

"Oh, mother. You disappoint me!" yelled Adria as she mentally grabbed the gun and tore it out of Vala's hand. Willow opened her eyes wide and turned to Vala, then back at Adria as the redhead felt air rippling around her. "The last time we fought, my mother helped you, Athena! My own traitorous Mother betrayed the Orici! Now, you have no more help!" Vala eyes were opened wide in terror as she and Willow looked at each other before Vala was flung into a mass of debris. Willow wanted to scream when she saw Vala's body being flung towards several sharp edged pieces of metal from one of the torn rows of seats on the other side of the chamber.

Willow's body was burning and it was hard to concentrate. But she just managed a telekinetic burst that shifted Vala's trajectory, and head felt like it was about to explode. Vala then fell on a space filled with rubble, instead of the metal spears which would have surely killed her.

"Uphhh!" Vala groaned after she crashed onto the debris. Dust kicked up and then settled onto Vala's back while Adria smiled at her mother before she turned to Willow who was staring at her before she closed her eyes.

"You saved her," Adria said as she mentally gripped Willow's mind and squeezed while the blinding pain travelled down her neck, her spine, and then through her entire nervous system. The redhead collapsed on her knees with her face twisted in pain, her left elbow was propped on the back of the seats while her right hand was lying flat on the bottom of a seat as she tried to scream at the feeling of her mind being ripped apart.

While Adria was tearing through Willow's mind, she mentally squeezed Willow's heart, contracted her lungs, and then squeezed her trachea. Willow couldn't concentrate as she opened her eyes wide. And with her vision starting to blur, Willow's eyes shifted for a weapon she could use… a weapon light enough to carry through the pain that was emanating from her heads.

And then her eyes stopped at the weapon Vala had used earlier. The one she used to fire a grenade at Adria; it was now set to fire armour piercing rounds. It lay on the far side of the chamber, on the platform Adria was standing on. But Willow's started to feel numb as the pain slowly vanished. She was starting to get dizzy as she glared at Adria.

"I'm a god, Athena," Adria said as she stepped off the platform, took a few steps forward, and then walked up the stairs to where Willow was on her knees, and about to collapse, "and look at you. You were supposed to have been more powerful. More… oh."

Adria read Willow's mind once all the latter's mental defences were obliterated and saw the war against the Wraith, and Willow fighting in the front lines as a General. "Interesting," Adria said excitedly as Willow fell onto the floor, her eyes became red thanks to the blood vessels erupting, "a General fighting monsters using your piddly gifts? You thought you got rid of me, so you became complacent? You never improved, did you? Or you thought your improvements were enough for the Wraith?

Willow glared at Adria who read her mind. Adria saw Willow training her abilities, but it still wasn't enough against someone who had the very knowledge of how to use their Ascended abilities. And Adria pointed out that very fact, "I have all of the Ori's experiences and knowledge. Millions of years' worth of knowledge, in fact. And you believed that nine hundred years would see you through? You thought that you could improve so drastically in a blink of an eyes?" Adria then chucked as she looked down at Willow, "Your arrogance is unbelievable, Athena. Just like an Ancient."

Willow felt her body becoming heavy while mental 'fingers' reached into the deepest reaches of her mind and squeezed. A form of blinding pain cut through the numbness in Willow's body, a pain intense than anything she had experienced before. Willow stared at Adria through red tinted vision while listening to the latter bragging.

At the same time, Willow locked her jaw as beads of sweat trickled down her face. Willow tried to fight through the pain, the horrible pain, and continued to gathered as much power as possible.

And Adria continued to mock Willow on her failure to improve her own powers. Adria continued to say that she was a being with all the knowledge and powers of an Ori, and Willow was simply a facsimile of a race about to be extinct.

"After you die?" Adria gloated as she crouched down while Willow glared at her, "I will burn Dawn… or is it Hera? What do you call your Lantean sister?" Adria stared at the redhead whose lips were a bright blue, as were her cheeks Adria looked on impressed, "you still fight. But it's no matter. Once you and her die, the final two living Ancients will have died. And then, I win." Adria then leaned forward until she was nearly nose to nose with Willow, "hallowed are the Ori."

Adria was close enough.

Willow mentally tore the choker off Adria and then another gathered burst pushed the Orici, who was chuckling at Willow's vain attempt to try and defeat her.

"What was that?" laughed Adria while she was pushed back a few steps. Suddenly, she grunted after being hit in the back of her head. Adria then spun around in a rage while grabbing the back of her head. She then heard something clattering behind her. Adria turned around just as Willow used what remained of her powers to pull the trigger on the weapon.

It was seconds ago that the weapon spun towards them after Willow mentally picked it up, and then it hit the back of Adria's head. When Adria turned to see what hit her, the weapon fell to the floor and Willow, her body already heavy, mind confused and in excruciating pain, pulled the weapon towards her as she forced herself up on one knee.

Willow picked it up mentally and then pulled the trigger as Adria turned. Willow blasted Adria's mind once again to distract her while the bullet flew through the air, and then went through Adria's chest. Willow saw the Orici's eyes widen. But now, Willow could breathe again as Adria stepped back and stared down at the blood seeping down from the hole in the middle of her chest.

Taking a deep breath as she stumbled up on shaking feet, Willow felt her powers returning as well. And she was not going to hold back. Willow slammed a mental battering ram into Adria and slammed her against the edges of a row of seats behind her. Not wanting to give Adria a second to breathe, Willow literally blocked Adria's airway, just as the latter had done to Willow and Vala.

However, she felt Adria pushing back as she got back up to her feet. Willow immediately slammed her into the far wall and while she hung there laughing, Willow continued to fire one burst after another. The wall started to crack as Willow continued slamming her with telekinetic blasts. Willow then waved her hands, screamed, and telekinetically flung Adria into a row of seats. Just as Adria impacted against the seats, Willow reinforced her mental defences and then, while her headache was considerably lesser than before, fire a stream of greyish-white energy at Adria who was slowly getting up to her feet.

The energy burst hit Adria, who was then flung into the adjacent row of seats. Willow grabbed the back of one of the seats to keep her balance since she felt as if her surroundings were spinning around. Willow panted while blood trickled down her nose as she fired another energy burst at Adria who was stumbling back up to her feet. The burst hit Adria, who was then flung back into some still intact seats. Her back hit the seats, and then her body was grabbed mid-air by Willow and then slammed into the far wall.

'This has to end,' Willow thought as she stumbled back towards the weapon while she continued to fire one mental burst after another with Adria pinned against the far wall. The 'boom' caused by the mental blast impacting Adria reverberated throughout the chamber. Cracks appeared on the wall behind Adria as Willow pushed her mind.

But each successive burst was getting weaker with Willow reaching her limit. Her body was screaming for a rest as she reached the weapon, crouched down, and then groaned while picking it up and then turning around. She got on one knew and brought up the weapon. She aimed it at Adria without any hesitation.

'You're too powerful,' Willow thought while she fired another weakened mental burst to pin Adria to the wall several meters away, 'sorry Vala, again.' Willow knew that Vala held out hope that Adria could be rehabilitated, she knew that Vala wanted her daughter alive. But Adria was too dangerous to take prisoner. Willow aimed the weapon and then pulled back the finger laying on the trigger. But before the rounds could fire out the barrel, Willow felt a violent rippled in the air just before she was mentally pushed. Her body spun through the air before landing hard onto the platform with a thud. The weapon was torn out of her grasp and it fell onto the floor in the middle of two rows of seats.

Willow groaned as she rolled onto her back. Pain wracked through her body while Adria, who was also injured, fell on the floor and lay on her side. Both of their bodies had already started to heal the injuries, but it didn't help with the exhaustion the both of them felt.

They lay in the middle of what amounted to a disaster zone. Dust floated in the air while there were debris everywhere on the floor. Torn rows of seat lay around them as Adria was the first to get back to her feet. She glared at Willow lying face down as she tried to get up to her feet, but fell back down because she was still dizzy.

"Athena!" yelled Adria as she lifted her arm while panting. She aimed the gathering ball of fire in the palm of her hand at Willow who was trying to get off the floor with arms trembling. Willow was panting as she looked over at Adria, the redhead's eyes shifting to the growing fiery red orb in her hand. Willow tried to fire a mental blast, but all that happed was that she had a headache. It was then she discovered she was too exhausted from all the previous attacks on her. The world was still spinning around her, but Willow tried to stumble forward without her bearings.

All that happened was she fell back onto the floor once again.

"I win," Adria yelled as Willow turned her head at the Orici. Suddenly, before Adria could fire her energy blast at Willow, there was a blue sphere of energy that hit her; much to Willow's surprise. The energy crackled over Adria's body, which collapsed onto the floor as she groaned while Willow turned her head to her left. She raised her eyebrows as she watched a bloody Vala supporting herself on the back edges of two seats before the stunner weapon dropped from her hand.

Willow then laughed as she rolled back onto her back and lay down on the floor. "Vala!"

"I'm okay," Vala yelled as she winced in pain before she collapsed. She grabbed the site of her two broken ribs, and then collapsed to her side. Willow heard the thud, and then she brought her arm, the movement of which hurt, up and pressed on her ear piece. It was finally safe to have someone come down to retrieve Adria, and to return her back to the Vantage where she would be placed in stasis.

"Van… Vantage," Willow rasped as she closed her eyes and tried to get her bearings, "I need med teams. Three injured... need two nanite vials for me and Vala. And another vial for nullifying Adria's powers. And… and I need an update. And.. and I need an update."

"Copy that," Jon said as he stared at the data on his tactical screen while pointing at one of his officers, signalling him to contact the infirmary so that they could send over a medical team. In the meantime, he continued talking as his tactical screen showed the shields on the Persephone collapse, followed by the ship being torn apart, "General? There's something you should know."

TBC.

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Ba'al's Mothership, four minutes ago.**

As Ba'al slowly got off the debris covered floor of his bridge, he pulled himself up to his feet by grabbing a side of one of the consoles. He looked around as he got to his feet and saw that his bridge crew, his Jaffa, were killed. He rushed to another console which was blinking on and off, and pressed down on a couple of buttons. He coughed from the dust that kicked up along with the showers of sparks that were falling down from the ceiling and out of several other consoles.

He had been so close to having everything he wanted. So very close.

Ba'al stared at the hologram depicting his ship a few inches above his console, and slammed his fist down on the hard metal surface in anger. His ship was virtually destroyed, and as he looked round at the destruction around him on the bridge, he saw that his Jaffa lay dead. He looked back a the hologram and saw he had no more weapons, his shield generators were destroyed, he lost nearly all of his Jaffa and Kull Warriors throughout the ship to either explosions or the vacuum of space. Screaming in anger after moving to another hologram, Ba'al discovered that his escape ship had also been damaged, as was the main weapon powered by the Eyes of the Gods; in fact, the main weapon was floating in space after having been sheared off by the drone weapons from Atlantis.

He didn't know how the Tau'ri had gotten so many ships ready in so short of a time; but that didn't matter. It was a thought that he pushed back to the back of his mind as he limped to another console while his ship shook again from weapons impacts. He heard a groan throughout the ship and simply knew that more sections of the ship were being destroyed by the combined Pegasus Alliance fleet.

Reaching another console, the injured Ba'al… his left leg bleeding profusely from several cuts, limped to the controls. Once at the controls, he pressed down on a control dome and watched as a holographic interface popped up. He stared at the anti-beaming technology being deactivated in various areas of the ship before he switched the interface to one showing the Earth's sun.

It was a back-up solution he hoped never would have to be used. Ba'al really did want to have the population of Earth kept alive. He wanted to be a benevolent emperor who ruled the entire galaxy. And he wanted Quetesh by his side. But now? Now there was no hope of that happening. No galactic wide empire for Ba'al. No Earth, the planet he desired, and the people on that planet he grudgingly admired.

'They have made their peace with this rebellion,' Ba'al thought to himself as he pressed in a code known only to him at a numeric panel, 'I offered them a choice to be ruled by me. A rule where they would live ordered lives…. Yes, they would be slaves… but an ordered life, but they refused. So now…" Ba'al stared out the viewport at Earth, and then back down at the console in front of him. 'They chose to fight. So Earth will be taught a lesson. I would rather burn the atmosphere of the planet… I would rather burn every human on the planet than let it be free without me at the helm.' He pressed a few more buttons just as a weapons platform in orbit of the sun decloaked.

Just then, there were screeching sounds all around him while Ba'al's hand hovering over the button that would fire a beam of energy from the shielded weapon into the sun. When there were flashes of lights all around him, Ba'al pressed down on the button. With a sense of accomplishment, Ba'al looked up from the console after the light faded to see a face he didn't think he would see again.

"General Jack O'Neill," Ba'al smirked before his eyes shifted to Daniel, "Dr Daniel Jackson", both of whom raised their weapons at him. Ba'al then stared at the three other males and one woman who were in reverse engineered Kull armour with weapons trained on him. Ba'al managed to glimpse 'SG-1' etched on their upper arm armour plates before looking away at the six young women who had weapons aimed at him too. The primary difference with these women were the long cylindrical devices on their hips. Ba'al sights shifted back to the General and tilted his head slightly, "I have to say that I am surprised to find you still alive after so long."

"Oh you know, Bacchii," quipped the General using his favourite insult as he took a step forward, weapon aimed at the Goa'uld's chest, "I eat heathy, exercise.. oh, and I do yoga too."

"Really?" Daniel asked while his weapon was aimed at Ba'al's chest. The Colonel then shrugged while Daniel rolled his eyes upwards. Turning their attention back to Ba'al, General O'Neill ordered SG-1 to begin copying the ship's specifications and data while Daniel asked the Slayers to give them cover in case there were Kull warriors on the way to the bridge. The entire time, Ba'al had a grin on his face as he stared at the General, the man he had tortured for days on end hundreds of years ago. General O'Neill noticed the smile just as there was a flash of light that creeped into the bridge of the ship from outside.

The group turned and stared out the window only to see the Persephone entering hyperspace. And then Ba'al chuckled. The group turned back towards him with the General rushing at him with teeth gritted. For his old age, the General was still spry thanks to the nanites in his bloodstream that retarded his aging. And the General knew Ba'al, all of them did; the Goa'uld wouldn't be laughing, with his fleet destroyed and his ship nearly disabled, unless he had some sort of back-up plan. The General grabbed the man by his collars, and then pushed him down and held him against the console, "what did you do?"

"Earth refused my guidance and rule," Ba'al whispered as Jon's voice crackled over the radio. Everyone stared at each other in stunned silence upon hearing of the prominence rising on the surface of the sun, causing a possible Coronal Mass Ejection that would be heading their way. Ba'al stared at the stunned faces and then laughed hysterically before he kicked the distracted General's knee.

General O'Neill yelped as he let go of Ba'al's collars, who then raised his leg and kicked out at the General, pushing him away. The Goa'uld then heard rounds being chambered in the weapons behind him. He saw the General stumbled back before looking over his shoulder; Ba'al then saw the General crumble onto the floor as time started to slow down.

Ba'al was about to turn around when one shot rang through the bridge, followed by a searing pain in his shoulder as a bullet tore through the flesh and bone. Ba'al turned and glared at the weapon, while his hand covered the bullet would, that Daniel was holding up. It aimed at him while the other members of SG-1 were preparing to fire. The other women were holding up blades of light as they surrounded him. He glared at the group around him and knew that their end was coming. With the Fall of Earth, the lynchpin of the Federation would be gone… the Tau'ri homeworld would be destroyed.

And Ba'al would live to pick up the pieces.

All calculations were made before the attack on Earth; the weapon placed in orbit around the sun was aimed at a specific set of coordinates that would ensure the resulting Mass Coronal Ejection shot at the planet and the immediate space around it. He and Quetesh had already simulated the stripping away of the atmosphere, the irradiation of the surrounding space, and the death of all life on the planet. The two of them were so sure of the destruction zone that the mothership was placed in a safezone.

But it was a fall back plan. Until now.

"Bastard!" the General punched Ba'al who stumbled back into the console while Daniel ordered SG-1 to tap into the crystals and download all information about the improvements made to the technology on the Mothership. In the meantime, Ba'al crumbled to the floor of the ship after General O'Neill shot him with a stun weapon. Taking a deep breath, the General turned to one member of SG-1, Lieutenant Lim, and ordered him to access the hyperdrive schematics for the ship before turning to the Slayers and telling them to take out any Kull Warriors that were coming their way. "Once it's all done, delete all the information, and activate the hyperdrive's self-destruct."

"How about the power source, Jack?" asked Daniel before mentioning he was sure Starfleet would want their people to comb through the computers.

"Copy all information on the power core, and then delete it" the General said nodding his head, "we'll leave…" The General looked over Daniel's shoulder with his eyes narrowed. It was then that Daniel and the others turned towards the viewport and saw Atlantis leaving Earth's atmosphere and heading for the Sun. Shaking his head, the General then continued in a whisper, "Get to work people."

**New Terra, hundreds of years ago; Lisa aged Seven years.**

Ever since Lisa could talk, she had dreams of what she wanted to be when she grew up. One time she wanted to be a teacher, an engineer, an actor, and even a writer. She even wanted to command a starship. And that was her dream ever since Willow took her Goddaughter on a tour of the Talon. But it was after Buffy and Xander told her about her potential as a Slayer that Lisa really knew what she wanted to be when she grew up.

Two years after the ball of light had darted into her, identifying her as a Potential Slayer, Lisa learned the truth about Buffy. That's when she learned about the Slayer and her responsibilities, and Lisa listened in awe to every Buffy said as she sat on Buffy's lap. Lisa listened in silence as Xander told her about how her grandpa Giles, Aunt Willow, himself, and Buffy saved Earth numerous times when they were in High School. Lisa listened in stunned silence as Buffy and Xander told her about how Angel and Cordelia helped out in their early days.

Ever since then, Lisa wanted to hear stories of Buffy's adventures as bedtime stories. Buffy and Xander would chuckle when Lisa would pout after being told that Slayer stories weren't meant for bedtime. However, they gave in and told Lisa sanitized stories about their adventures.

It would be on her tenth birthday that Lisa told Buffy and Xander that she wanted to be a Slayer. However, the reacts of the two adults reaction were different than what Lisa thought it would be. There wasn't pride in Buffy's eyes while she stood stunned at the revelation Lisa's dream request, there was fear. While Xander walked over to his daughter, who was seated at the table and ready to eat dinner, Buffy shook her head and then grabbed the pan of roasted beef and brought it to the table.

"It's not a fun life, Lisa," Buffy whispered as she glanced at her daughter while placing the pan on the table, "it may seem like fun and games now but…." Buffy stood up and walked over to Lisa and placed her hand on the back of the little girl's head as she sat on her chair, "but I remember the nightmares of…" Buffy then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before shaking her head, "I still have nightmares."

"But…"

"I thought you wanted to command a starship," Xander added as he placed the plates on the table while Lisa swung her legs off the edge of her seat, "like Willow? Wasn't that your dream job when she took you to see her old ship for your birthday."

"I want to do both," Lisa whined looking at Xander, and then at Buffy, and back to Xander, "please, Daddy? Mommy? Daddy?"

"You have time, kiddo," Xander said while he and Buffy sat down to eat, "you have plenty of time. And who knows, maybe you'll become a writer like your old man."

Eventually Lisa became both; a Slayer and the commander of her own ship. But Buffy and Xander wanted her to have a normal childhood, not one where she would be taught about demons, vampires, monsters, magic, and various other aspects of the supernatural in addition to the normal Elementary, Middle, and High school subjects at the Slayer Academy.

Instead, Buffy put Lisa into New Sunnydale Elementary with the latter going up to, and then graduating New Sunnydale High. The eighteen-year own Lisa was then given the option to have the nanites injected into her body so that her aging would be slowed down, in addition to the other welcome benefits, and she agreed. After the nanite injection, Willow sponsored her application into the Fleet Academy- the Pegasus version of the former Air Force Academy on Earth.

After graduating with her Masters degree, Second Lieutenant Lisa Harris-Summers talked to Buffy about being activated as a Slayer. This time, Buffy agreed. It would be a year later that Lisa was activated as a Slayer and sent to the Slayer Academy for training.

It would be hundreds of years later that the time dilation devices were deactivate, and the war against the Wraith began anew. Lisa was a part of the reformed SG-1 led by the Senior Slayer, Faith. SG-1, SG-1, SG-3 and three squads of five Slayers in Kull armour were sent through the Stargate to a world that was known to be a Wraith cloning facility. Ships had already launched throughout the galaxy for the former Milky Way humans to reintroduce themselves to the humans in Pegasus, but the first strike… the first blood spilled in the renewed war was at the cloning facility.

It was at that first battle that Lisa understood the difference between training lifetimes for battle, and actually doing it in real life. That day three Slayers died, as did three from SG-2 and SG-3. It was the day that Lisa understood that the Krull Armour and the facial shields would prevent the energy weapons from affecting them but that didn't help against the Wraith feeding on them. Lisa's heart was racing that day as she took cover alongside Faith in the cloning facility; she was there when news came in that the three Slayers and the three SG personnel died.

"All Slayer," Faith said through her radio as Lisa, her Kinetic Energy Weapon in hand, turned and shot at the Wraith coming towards them through the dimly lit hallway, "I know you're scared. I know this is the real thing. We can mourn the losses of our sisters later, we can bring this whole place down in their memory. Push aside that fear." Lisa looked at Faith who was encouraging the Slayers not to give in to their fear of the Wraith. That they needed to be calm, to push their fear to one side and be who they were supposed to be; Slayers. Lisa listened to Faith, and then she stared at the more than nine Wraith coming towards them from all sides.

"Major," Lisa said as she looked towards another hallway where the second in command of SG-1, Curt Halsey, was firing at the Wraith coming from the opposite Hallway. The young man looked over at Lisa who said, "Cover me?"

The Major nodded his head as he and the rest of SG-1 continued to open fire. Lisa then turned to Faith who was smiling back at her while holstering her weapon, and taking out the cylindrical weapons. Faith nodded her head before ordering Major Halsey, "you, Lisa, and Mags take the ones on the south, and the rest of us take the ones coming from the North." Halsey nodded his head after taking cover once again as Lisa and Faith rushed into either side of the hallway. They activated their light blades, Faith holding onto one that shone blue… her favourite colour, and Lisa held onto two that shone yellow.

As each Wraith fell that first day, Lisa's confidence grew. The confidence of the other Slayers grew, as did the confidence of the other soldiers and ship crews. That day, the first Wraith cloning facility fell to the Pegasus Alliance. But there were hundreds more throughout the Galaxy.

Soon, the Wraith pushback began.

Willow, Buffy, General Carter, O'Neill, Daniel, Thor, Xander, Anya – they were all on the front line together with Lisa and the others as the war continued. And only a few days ago, the Alliance finally won. The Wraith threat was neutralised.

**The Persephone, present day, three minutes earlier.**

The Aurora-class Persephone, a class slightly modified from the one the Ancients used thousands of years ago in Pegasus, came out of hyperspace and immediately raised her shields. Lisa was on the activated command chair, the back of the chair angled at forty-five degrees with the bottom pedestal glowing, as she mentally rerouted the power from the hyperdrive adding to the power already transferred from all weapons, life support from every deck except the bridge, and the internal shielding system to the exterior shields. Only communications were still active with the shields running at sixty five percent, and still increasing. Lisa hoped that by the time the particle stream hit, the shields would be at least eighty percent.

Even then, Lisa didn't know how long the shields, which were not designed to handle and energy blast of this magnitude, could last under the bombardment of the particle stream that she knew was coming; she saw the superheated plasma arch up from the surface of the sun… at least that's the last thing she saw before the tactical hologram that had been covering the forward viewport vanished due to the power transfer. Now, all she could do was mentally do an approximate count down to the collapse of the prominence just below her ship. Once the power was transferred to the shields, and the ship stopped at the set of coordinates provided by the computer, Lisa sat back upright and looked away from the harsh light coming through the forward viewport.

The Persephone was parked at an angle with the hope that once the stream hit the shields, it would be diverted away from Earth. Hopeful that the ship would divert the stream, Lisa jumped off the chair and felt the air around her starting to heat up. She ran to the bulkhead behind her and placed her palm on a panel with the words 'Authorised Personnel only' inked above it. She wanted to retrieve her weapons, the very ones that identified her as a Slayer, and then she was going to rush into one of the twelve life pods that were accessible from the bridge- one for each bridge crew. The life-pod had independent power supplies that would be able to launch her into space, and then she could use the short range hyperdrive to get to Earth.

At least that was the plan. Lisa knew that the Persephone was going to be destroyed no matter what happened. It was just a matter of delaying the inevitable in the hope that Atlantis would be able to encircle the Earth with its shield.

Once her hand was on the panel, Lisa watched it flash red, and then a steady green a second later. Then, with a 'hiss', another panel to the left opened up to reveal a recess containing two silver cylindrical objects; both had a red button near the top of each cylinder. Lisa reached in, grabbed the two cylinders before she looked over her shoulder at the forward viewport, and her eyes widened at the collapsing prominence.

It was then that Lisa heard Dawn yelling at her through the communication system, "Lisa, do you hear me!"

Lisa knew she underestimated the time it would take for the prominence to collapse. She thought she would have a few more seconds before she could exit the ship. Lisa remembered reading up on the Daedalus incident hundreds of years ago when it too was sent to divert a Coronal Mass Ejection poised to hit Lantea from the Lantean sun. She knew the crew was lucky then, they not only had a ZPM powering the shield…. Just as she did… but the stream lasted for two minutes, and they had a fully powered shield. And even with the ZPM powered Asgard shields, the Daedalus was considerably damaged.

Back on the Persephone in the present day, Lisa hooked the cylinders to her belt on either side of her waist before being pushed back slightly and impacting her shoulder against the bulkhead as the panel that opened earlier went back down with a 'hiss'.

Alarms started to go off as the ship groaned and shuddered. The ship then had a violent jolt as the stream continued to impact the shield while Lisa stumbled forward and grabbed the back of the command chair. She glanced briefly out the forward viewport and saw the shields flaring as the particle stream impacted against it.

"Lisa!" Dawn's voice echoed through the bridge, her voice cracking up as Lisa rushed to a console while praying that there was power. She pressed a few buttons, but the console didn't activate so that she could run diagnostics. All Lisa heard as she looked up and away from the brilliant orange light coming in from the forward viewport was Dawn yelling her name through the speakers. "Lisa!"

"Aunt Dawn!" yelled Lisa as she activated a subspace connection to Atlantis, "do you hear me?"

"Lisa!" Dawn yelled, "I don't know if you can hear me, but Atlantis is on the way. We'll be there in three minutes and… stand by… Lisa? We're launching."

Lisa's heart was racing as she raced to another side of the port side of the bridge while, unknown to her, there were several hull breaches as large sections of the hull shredded off the ship's frame due to the rising temperature behind inside the shield. The temperature continued to rise as several more hull breaches formed- including near the locations of the engine and power rooms. With large sections of the external hull shredded away and the temperature continuing to rise, along with the depleting shield, the interior bulkheads in those unprotected sections started to melt away.

Lisa was at the port wall when the ship violently jerked, and she fell backwards onto the increasingly hot floor. She hissed in pain as her hands touched the floor, pushing herself back up before she could wave her arms about to cool down her palms.

Her face was scrunched in pain as she stumbled towards the wall while wondering what was going on. Unknown to her, the interior bulkheads melted away and whatever atmosphere remained was sucked out into space. The metal then started to break up and melt as its temperature started to rise. Eventually the external sensors and the communications array were destroyed with the antennae having melted off.

The oppressive heat travelled through the metal and plastic, melting the interior of the ship as Lisa, on the bridge, heard several loud groans. The intense heat travelled faster as the shield depleted even more; it was now at thirty percent. Door and walls started to melt while power conduits burned and then melted off, resulting in areas of the ship losing internal power while losing structural integrity. The heat increased in the ship to such an extent that the doors to the engine room and power rooms started to melt off.

The heat was rising in several other areas, even those that were closer to the bridge. The bridge had started to get hotter and hotter, and Lisa felt the air burning as she gasped and fell onto her knees as sweat covered her forehead… streaming down her face and onto the floor where the droplets instantly evaporated.

Lisa's mouth went dry as she pushed herself off the burning floor back to her feet. Lisa wasn't thinking anymore, she knew she needed to get off the bridge. She knew she needed to get off the ship.

'One and a half minutes,' Lisa thought to herself while images of her family and friends rushed through her head. Lisa gasped for air as she got up… her face scrunching on pain. Her body felt as it was being cooked from the outside in, as she leaned against the bulkhead. It was then that she placed a palm on a glass panel. But it didn't work… the panel slightly burned her hand as she pulled back with a 'hiss' escaping her lips. Lisa saw the glass on the palm scanner crack from the heat, and then there was another groan from the ship followed by the sound of another crack.

The sound came from behind her. But Lisa didn't want to look… she was afraid that her racing heart would burst out of her chest if she did. All she could concentrate on as she tried to breathe while sweating buckets was crouch down and pull another panel near the floor. The the skin on her fingers burned, and she screamed in pain, as she tore a maintenance panel off using her strength. She then reached in and pulled some of the crystals that were immediately heating up; after pulling the crystals, she inserted them into other slots in the same recess… stopping when she heard another hiss.

Getting back to her feet, she shook her head and then fell onto her knees. The heat seemed more oppressive than before as her vision started to cloud. Lisa felt the ship jerk and then groan; the result of more hull breaches. The doors to the engine room and power room were starting to melt, and the air inside those rooms were starting to heat up at a rapid rate. As Lisa willed herself, using all her strength, up to her feet, she dashed towards a panel that opened up to reveal a lifepod- a cylindrical tube that had its own life-support system.

She stumbled towards it- her mind now having one simple goal- to get off the ship before it's destroyed.

"Atlantis is on the way," Lisa whispered as she headed for the pod which was already opening its glass cover. Unknown to Lisa, the shields were already at ten percent. The Control Chair on the bridge started to spark, as did the consoles while Lisa panted as she got into the life pod. The ship shook as Lisa quickly closed the glass cover. Just then, the doors to the power and engine rooms were melted away, and the hot air rushed out into the vacuum beyond. It was a few seconds later that the temperature rose to oppressive levels as consoles in the power and engine rooms started to melt. AS they melted, sparks erupted and steam escaped from pipes all over the ship thanks to the intense heat.

'One minute away,' Lisa thought as she strapped herself into the seat. Once she strapped in, Lisa pressed a button a panel to the left of the glass cover. She started to get sensor readings from the life pod as cool air circulated within the pod from the life support system. But Lisa knew it wouldn't last long; she needed to eject the pod out into space and head for Atlantis. However, the sensors in the pod were showing her that once she was out in space, she would be irradiated thanks to the plasma stream from the sun.

'The shield, whatever remains at least, is protecting me from radiation,' Lisa thought as she looked out the glass viewport, and then her eyes shifted back to the panel, 'this thing doesn't have shields strong enough against this much radiation. Ok… so no going out into space which means… ummm…'

"Aunt Dawn? Aunt Dawn, do you hear me?"

There was nothing.

"Aunt Dawn?"

Nothing again as Lisa pressed a few more button to prepare for launch, 'the particle stream must be blocking subspace comms, or the array melted off… either way, Atlantis can't hear me.' Lisa frowned as she swiped panel's screen and spoke to herself, "Aunt Dawn, if you can hear this then I am manually overriding the safeties on the life-pod hyperdrive. I'm opening a window from inside the ejection tube that'll take me straight to Earth. I can't go out since... well… if I did that, then I'll start glowing in the dark. I'll see you soon. Love you."

Lisa tapped on the panel screen while she was talking while sensing the air around her starting to heat up as various sections of the bridge started to explode. It was at that same time that the engine control systems started to melt, as did the primary power conduits. The Naquada generators exploded, causing damage to the ZPM containment unit which was already partly melted away. And then the ZPM itself started to blink as the power being sent to the shields through the main conduits was interrupted.

And then the ZPM stopped glowing, and since the containment unit melted away, the device fell onto the superhot floor with a thud.

Lisa stared out of the pod's glass cover at the bridge of the ship she commanded and whispered, "goodbye."

"Activating hyperdrive," whispered Lisa just as the Zpm landed onto the floor. The entire ship violently jerked after she pressed the screen. The ejection tube where the pod was located started to tear apart as a hyperspace window was opened just beneath the life-pod. Just as Lisa was about to pressed the screen once again to launch the pod, she looked out the front window… and her eyes opened wide as the shield flared once again before it failed. Pressing on the screen, Lisa felt the pod drop into the hyperspace window just as the particle stream from the sun tore through the bridge.

The Persephone had no chance against the particle stream which destroyed the entire ship. Everything from the control chair, to the ZPM, to the Neutrino-Ion fusion engines were melted away. The stream continued on for thirty seconds when it hit Atlantis' shields, just before it started to fan out. The powerful Atlantis shields diverted the stream away from Earth while Dawn was staring stunned at the one of the screens.

The Persephone was destroyed… and her heart fell.

"Someone tell me something!" yelled Dawn while she continued staring at the screen which was telling her that the Atlantis shields were holding steady at ninety nine percent.

"ZPM power level are steady at ninety nine percent, ma'am," said a technician, "we'll be able to handle the…"

"About Lisa, I want to know…."

"Miss Dawn!" yelled another young woman who was looking at another console, interrupting Dawn, "there was an energy burst just before the ship was destroyed."

"What energy?" Dawn demanded as she rushed to the young woman at the console.

"A hyperspace window," she replied as Dawn stood next to her; the latter having a look of relief on her face.

"Contact the Vantage, have them scan Earth for the pod."

TBC.

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Orbit of Earth.**

From the Enterprise, to Voyager, to the Andorian and other Federation ships in orbit of Earth; all of them saw the destruction of the Persephone through their sensors. Seven was staring stunned at the Particle Stream moved through the Persephone, destroying all traces of the ship, before being block by Atlantis' shields. Voyager's sensors were recording what was happening while Seven strode to another console while blood stained the side of her face from a cut earlier.

She recorded the reading of the stream against the shield and was amazed by the power being given out against that kind of a force. It was the same on the Enterprise as Data and Laforge, who was out of sickbay, looked on from engineering as the particle stream was diverted. In addition, there were four other vessels of the Pegasus Alliance heading for the sun. While the Federation Alliance didn't know about it at the time, the Pegasus ships were heading to Atlantis in order to guard it- since the shields needed most of the power diverted from other areas except from life-support, the other ships were being sent as a show of force to prevent any other attacks on the Ancient city-ship.

Back on the Vantage, Jon released a sigh of relief after hearing from his wife, Dawn, that the particle stream was being diverted. Once he received confirmation he went on to scanning the planet below for Lisa's life-pod.

"There's nothing, sir," said one of the bridge crew who looked back at him shaking his head, "we've scanned the entire planet."

"Scan it again," Jon said getting off his command chair while he was surrounded by bridge crew bustling around the bridge, "the life-pod has a short range hyperdrive, and the scanners supposed to be fixed onto the closest planet that supports life. In this case? Well, it's Earth." Jon pointed out the forward viewport towards Earth while continuing, "So keep scanning."

"Yes, sir," was the reply before Jon heard from General O'Neill that Ba'al was captured and they were starting to copy the data on the mothership. Jon acknowledged the General before he looked at another crew member and had him contact the other Federation Alliance ships, and ask them if they needed any medical aid. After issuing his order, Jon was then told by a female crew member that Willow, Vala, and the unconscious Adria were back on the ship- the latter woman was in a stasis chamber.

And Willow wanted to see him.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Jon mumbled as he got up off the chair, and then rushed out the bridge after telling his second in command to take the Conn while, at the same time, one thought raged in his mind. 'Lisa, where are you?'

**Sunnydale, CA, Earth.**

In a massive cavern, one connected to various other caverns underneath Sunnydale, glowed bright blue as a rift opened up. The cavern was dimly lit thanks to spots of fire burning out of holes in the rocky ground while hundreds of pale bipedal creatures stood up and rushed the opening of the rift. Some of them stood several meters away from the rift, but even they could sense something was wrong. The creatures, with their deathly pale faces, black eyes, ridged eyebrows, and tattered clothing bared out their fangs just before feeling an intense heat. The ones standing away from the rift saw their brethren turn to ash from that very same intense heat.

And then they ran, the ones standing further away ran roaring in anger just before a heat wave hit them. In total, the entire cavern was clear of the creatures in under two seconds. There was no-one there to see the various forms of debris flung out from the rift and impacting the ground with thuds as the material bounced off the hard ground before stopping several feet away. The debris was soon followed by a cylindrical tube that was spit out of the rift before a burst of orange and red, from the particle stream that destroyed the Persephone, flared out and spread out into the cavern before the rift vanished a second later.

The blue hue that reflection on the walls of the cavern was gone, replaced by the red and orange light reflecting off the fires that were burning from the holes. There were some parts of the ground that flared up thanks to the small section of the particle stream that came through, but those fires were soon extinguished after the heat dissipated into the tunnels that led out of the twenty-story cavern. Lisa, who was panting as she remained strapped in her seat inside the smoking life-pod, clenched her teeth together and yelped as the life-pod bounced on the hard ground once. She had felt the heat from the particle stream, but the feeling of her body temperature… and the temperature of the inside of the Pod, along with its hull, rising was secondary in her mind once the pod skidded on the rocky surface.

The hull of the Pod showered the surrounding rocky ground with sparks upon hitting and skidding on the ground, and then bounced up off the ground and into the air upon hitting a rock.

"Oooph," Lisa growled as the straps of the harness dug into her shoulders, chest, and her thighs while the pod hit the ground once again with an audible 'blam', then sparks showered out, and then it bounced up once again.

Lisa could feel the speed decreasing with her body rattled after the fourth bounce before the pod skidded along the rocky floor of the cavern. Sparks flew as the pod continued to skid, with Lisa hearing scratching sounds as well as the groaning caused by sections of the hull being torn off before the pod started to slow down and then eventually stop moving.

While there was no visible fire, Lisa could smell something burning as she groaned while taking off the straps holding her body down. She undid the restraints on her chest, and then pulled it away while wincing in pain from the crash landing that jarred her entire body. Groaning in pain, she then reached across her body with her left arm and took off the restraints on her right shoulder while her right arm did the same for the left shoulder. Lisa then removed the restraints on her thighs before she stopped moving and closed her eyes.

She took in several deep breaths to calm her nerves as she remembered the particle stream passing the failed shields of the Persephone, and then crashing into the bridge. Lisa opened her eyes and shook her head before wondering where she was on Earth as she stared at the stalactites on the rocky ceiling of the cavern.

'It has to be Earth,' Lisa thought to herself as she removed a panel on her left after pressing some buttons that would have ordinarily opened the glass cover. 'The crash must have taken out the automated systems,' Lisa thought as she gazed at the glass cover, on which she could see had several cracks, 'yep. That's definitely from the impact,' she thought as she reached into the recess after having removed the left panel, and grabbed a small lever. 'This has to be Earth, the sensors are automatically tuned to the nearest life-sustaining planet, and the nearest one is Earth. Hell, I programmed it for Earth, so this is Earth,' she thought to herself as she pulled the lever down. 'I must be in some cavern underground.'

Once she pulled down the lever, there were several popping sounds caused by small explosions at the outside edges of the cover before it was violently jettisoned off. The sound reverberated throughout the cavern as the glass cover crashed back onto the ground several feet away. Once the cover was away from the still smoking Pod, which left a trail behind it on the hard ground after it's final crash onto the rocky terrain, Lisa grabbed the outside edges of the pod with both hands. She and then pulled herself up to a seated position.

And suddenly her senses started to go off. She felt as if she was being watched. The young woman turned her head and scanned the dimly lit area with her eyes before shaking her head. All she had seen were rocks of various sizes on the ground with fires burning from various areas. All in all, the place seemed eerie to Lisa as she frowned while feeling pain from the crash emanating throughout her body. Pain which started to slowly fade away as the nanites in her system began to administer small doses of pain killers while others began easing some strained muscles.

Frowning at not knowing where she was exactly, Lisa climbed out of the pod and, once her feet hit the hard ground, she reached back into the pod and pulled a lever next to her seat up toward her. The young woman heard a click, and then she pulled up the seat back to find the standard survival bag.

She took out the backpack, while her heart raced, before pushing the seat back to it's previous position. Placing the backpack on the seat back where she once lay, Lisa unzipped the bag and took out a black vest which she put on around her body. She then zipped up the front, after which she began checking the pockets to make sure as he had everything she needed; a flashlight, a whistle, a small flare gun, a life-signs detector, and a compass. While the life-signs detector already had a compass, it was mandated that an ordinary compass be included in the pack in case of emergency. And It was the compass that confused Lisa when she took it out to make sure it was working correctly.

She stared confused at the compass when she saw the plate inscribed with the cardinal points was spinning around uncontrollably. Lisa then took out her life signs detector and stared at the screen. Lisa was more confused when the life-signs detector showed an error message where the compass direction would have normally been displayed. She looked down at the life sign detector in her right hand, and then at the compass in her right hand- all while wondering what was going on.

Frowning, she put the compass back in her vest pocket and looked at the screen on the life-sign detector for any signs of life. However, so far she couldn't find anything. Putting the device into her right trouser pocket, Lisa leaned into the pod and reached back down into the backpack to take out a stun sidearm, the same type that Vala had used to stun Adria in Paris earlier.

As she was taking out the sidearm in the bag, she reached in with her other hand and took out its holster. She put the weapon into the holster and then wrapped it around her right thigh while the handle to one of her light blades brushed against her thigh and arm. At the same time, Lisa was wondering why it was that the Vantage, or any of the other ships in the Pegasus Alliance hadn't picked up the subcutaneous transmitter in her left arm. 'Unless they think I'm dead,' she thought to herself, wondering if the intense radiation from the particle stream could have blocked any detection of the hyperspace window… even by Atlantis.

"No matter," Lisa said as she reached into the bag and took out a spare energy cell for the weapon and a subspace radio. She then looked back into the bag and took out a flask. She unscrewed the top and then started to drink the cool water contained within. She still felt hot from the particle stream, and it was hot in the cavern as well. Her face was covered in sweat as she took a few more sips of water before placing the flask back into the backpack. As she did, Lisa saw several protein bars, a blanket, and a cap before zipping it back up.

Lisa then lifted the bag off the horizontal seat back before slinging it over her shoulder. She then took a step away from the pod and brought the radio to her lips.

"This is Colonel Lisa Summers of the Persephone to any Pegasus Alliance ships, do you copy," Lisa said as she started walking away from the pod, looking around at her options, while repeating herself on the radio and thinking to herself, 'this is a subspace radio. The ships in orbit should be able to hear me from down here.' Lisa repeated herself once again, but there was no response at the third try. Frowning, Lisa continued to walked straight ahead towards one of the tunnels while slowly sweeping the area with her eyes.

In the meantime, the Vantage and the other Alliance ships were releasing drones that would essentially repair the damaged hulls on their own ships. In addition, some of the Federation vessels were already calling out for aid due to their life support systems starting to crash. Those crew were beamed down to the areas in Starfleet Command that were already cleared off the Kull Warriors by both Federation and Pegasus Alliance vessels.

As for medical attention, shuttles from Earth were sent up to the Enterprise, Voyager, and several other ships with doctors and supplies. The Pegasus Alliance ships were thanked for the offer of medical aid, and asked that those offers remain at stand-by. At the same time, science and engineering teams from the Federation ships were preparing to take shuttles to the mothership so that they could examine it.

Back in the cavern, Lisa was shuffling her feet on the hard and rocky ground as she forged on ahead, cautiously. She saw several other tunnels that seemed to lead out of the cavern and, from her vantage point as she looked up, she could make out several ledges on the walls of the cavern. Some of which had tunnels leading somewhere else. And it all led to Lisa continuously wondering where she crash landed.

She already made the decision to take the closest tunnel out of the cavern. She had taken out the life-signs detector while she was walking ahead and was staring at the screen which showed an outline of the tunnel, and the one next to it heading upwards. However, there were no life-signs present.

Continuing to forge ahead, Lisa put the device back into her vest pocket and looked around while wondering if her mother was okay. Unknown to Lisa, Buffy was still fighting alongside Josie and two other Slayers after having cleared a section of Starfleet Command. With the ships above them providing shielding from the ever-dwindling death gliders, Buffy and the Slayers... as well as the Marines and SG teams on the ground… were being directed towards hotspots. And Lisa was never far from her mind- she just couldn't be distracted as she, Josie, Stella, and Connie and their teams fought one wave of Kulls after another.

It was the same with the other Slayer squads as the number of Kull Warriors began to decrease. Back in the cavern, Lisa was halfway to the tunnel when she stopped walking upon hearing a growl. Actually, there were several growls as Lisa spun around and stared at the tunnels behind her, and above her. The sounds were coming from everywhere, and she was standing in the middle of the rocky terrain. Lisa shot off to the side, running towards one of the larger rocks as fast as possible. The growls were getting louder and she could hear the thundering sounds of footsteps that were heading towards the cavern.

'It's from everywhere,' Lisa thought to herself as she panted while running. Lisa needed to know what was happening and where she was… and she couldn't do that if she was dead. And yes, she felt a sting in her gut that told her she was in danger. She felt a chill up her spine as she wondered what was coming- especially since, from the thundering footsteps, whatever was coming towards her location seemed to be big.

"RAWWWWRRRR!" the loud roar shook the ground and the walls of the cavern as Lisa looked to the caverns that surrounded her. The roars and growls where coming from everywhere. She was only a meter away from the largest rock, large enough to hide her if she crouched down and hugged its jagged surface, and she ran towards it.

But the sounds were getting louder.

Thirty seconds at the most, that's what was going through Lisa's head as she ran faster than she ever had in her life. She could already see shadows on the tunnel walls being cast by these large creatures out of the corner of her eyes. Lisa turned her head to be sure that she had seen the shadows on the walls.

Twenty seconds.

And Lisa knew she would only just make it to cover. However, when she turned her head back around to the rock; the young woman immediately stopped. She skidded on the floor while spreading her arms out to keep her balance. Lisa's face was etched with surprise as she stared at the figure in front of her. A figure dressed in a cream coloured blouse and jeans.

"Mom?" Lisa asked as she stopped. The figure, Buffy, stood with a smile on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Lisa who continued, "mom, how.. how are you here? Anyway, neverminded, we need to…"

"I see the Slayer and the idiot have a spawn of their own," 'Buffy' said. Lisa stepped back while she narrowed her eyes at 'Buffy' before she turned her head at the growls and roars coming from the figures running at her. Her eyes widened in shock upon seeing the fiery red eyes rushing at her. Lisa's heart fell upon hearing 'Buffy' laughing while the creatures, 'no, not just any creatures… demons. Oh God these are demons' Lisa thought to herself as she reached for the handles of her lightblades. She turned to 'Buffy' who was smirking at her before she raised her hand, and then clenched her fist high into the air.

And then the thundering sound around Lisa stopped, and she looked around to see the demons- about forty five that she could make out- stopped moving just before they reached her. While they surrounded her, Lisa turned back towards 'Buffy' and recalled what it was she just said about the 'Slayer and the idiot' having a spawn of their own.

'This isn't mom,' Lisa thought to herself as she gripped the handles of her deactivated lightblades tight, "who are you?"

"Answers later," 'Buffy' said as she began to walk around Lisa, who kept her eyes on the figure in front of her, "first, how is it that the Slayer cow is alive?"

"Who are you?" Lisa demanded to know as the demonic horde that surrounded her growled, roared, while others slammed their weapons- clubs, jagged swords, axes, and their bare fists onto the hard ground.

"My children are hungry," the figure said while Lisa spun around and stared at the wall of seven-foot-tall, muscled and sharp toothed demons, some of which were drooling, and then back at the figure who looked like Buffy. Lisa wondered what the being in front of her meant when saying its children were hungry. The creature pretending to be Buffy then smiled and stopped walking, "I know a long time, hundreds of years actually, have passed by. I know this because I have the memories of those who died."

"Who are you?!" Lisa demanded.

"Such impatience," the being in front of her said shaking her head, "your cow of a mother met me once. The very day her lover, the one before she settled for the idiot, attempted to commit suicide after I mocked him. After I tortured him with the deeds of his past. She never told you about the day she met me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lisa said. And that was the truth. She didn't know what the being in front of her was talking about. Lisa knew that Buffy had once been in love with Angel, the man Lisa herself used to call 'Unca Liam' when she was a child. But what the being in front of her was saying didn't sound familiar to Lisa, "when did Angel try to commit suicide?"

"There's no need for explanations, little girl," the being said shaking her head, "all you should know is that my children and I have been waiting a very long time for a way to break the seal that's been sealing the Hellmouth."

"The… the Hellmouth?" asked Lisa, her voice trembling as she looked around once again, and then back at the being in front of her with her eyes wide open in shock, "I… I… I'm in the Hellmouth?"

"My army was prepared to leave the Hellmouth after the events of your World War Three when the world and humanity were weak," the Being said as the demons around her roared, raising their weapons and fists into the air, "and we would have. We would have if your mother and the other Slayers hadn't offered their blood to the spell that diverted the Earth's magic and sealed the Hellmouth. That blocked my demon horde, and me, from leaving this place."

Lisa could feel anger and hate erupting all around her as the being who pretended to be Buffy gritted her teeth and stared.

"The Blood of Slayers sealed this place, so the blood of a Slayer will break the seal," the being said as Lisa rushed forward and punched whatever it was trying to be her mother. However, Lisa was surprised when her fist went through 'Buffy' face.

'She phased?' Lisa thought as she stared at her fist in surprise being jumping back away from 'Buffy'.

"My demons will pour out into the world and tip the balance towards the darkness," the being said, "and when that happens? When I'm in the hearts of every man, woman, and child? When I make them hate and commit unspeakable evil against each other, only then will I be able to take physical form. And when that happens…" Lisa listened in stunned silence as the figure in front of her twisted her body inside out before taking on the form of an eleven-foot-tall robed demon that growled out, "I will send my children through the Stargate network. The galaxy will fall into Hell, and I will be all powerful. I will spread throughout all creation just as I once had before the Word was spoken, before the Bang, before the Light."

"Who are you!" yelled Lisa as she gripped the handles of her blades while her heart raced.

"The First Evil," the being grinned before turning to the other demons, "do not kill her. Her blood is needed to break the seal." The First then trend to Lisa and grinned, showing off a row of sharp teeth, "you can fight all you want, Slayer. I recommend you don't. My children are hungry, and the angrier they get, the more they would want to eat you."

And then the First vanished. And all Lisa could do was spin around on her heels as she stared at the demons who seemed ready to pounce. She looked around her at the snarls being aimed at her from the creatures who had sharp and jagged swords, axes, and clubs in their thick and muscled arms, and armour around their thick trunked bodies.

"Okay," Lisa whispered to herself as she tried to calm herself down. She remembered he first battles against the Wraith and how scared she was, and it was Buffy who told her after the first few missions that the virtual reality training sessions never could give her the real feeling of combat. 'And mum was right about demons too,' Lisa thought to herself as sweat beaded on her forehead while she remembered Buffy training her for battle against all matter of demons and vampires. But these demons were nothing like what Buffy and Xander, as well as Giles, Faith, Willow, Anya, Jonathan, and Andrew described. The ones in front of her were larger and taller than her.. than any of the Wraith she fought against.

Her thumbs were brushing against the button on the handles in each of her hands; the very same buttons she knew would extend the blades of hot plasma contained within a magnetic sheath. She knew she was surrounded, and that her next move was going to be fateful no matter what happened. Lisa recalled the First saying that it needed the blood of a Slayer to break the seal that blocked the Hellmouth and release demons back to the surface of the Earth.

'The First wanted to show me force,' Lisa thought as she looked around at the demons surrounding her. She then crouched down to see through the thick legs of the demons and could see that there was empty space behind them. A lot of empty space. She looked up at one of the snarling demons who stepped towards her, its body swaggering. Lisa saw it tighten its grip on the hilt of its sword before she looked past the demon. They were all gathering towards her. Even the ones behind her and to the left and right sides.

"Well, the First did say not to kill me," Lisa quipped as she looked around while standing up once again. She went through scenarios in her mind, and all of them ended with her being badly injured… even if she did make it out of the cavern alive.

And then, she had an idea.

"So!" Lisa said as she clipped the light blades handles to her belt once again after having removed them She then reached down to the stun weapon. She looked down at the weapon and slid off the top cover before looking up at the demon towering over her. it's red eyes glaring down at her while she ripped some of the mini-crystals from the energy regulator next to the vial of refined liquid naquada, "you guys want to take over the world? And then the galaxy, huh?" Lisa glanced down at the crystals between her finger and then dropped them onto the ground before glancing up while replacing the top cover, "that's a bit ambitious don't you think?" Lisa stared at the demon looking down at her defiantly while switching the 'safety' on the weapon in her hand to the 'off' position. She then depressed the trigger while pointing the barrel at the ground, and then heard a 'click' sound which told her that the weapon was set to automatic fire.

And with nothing to control the flow of energy, Lisa could feel the weapon heat up in her hand.

Lisa then stepped back and threw the weapon into the crowd of demons to her left… the direction of the closest tunnel; the one she was heading towards earlier. She then jumped back to avoid the sword that was being swung at her. "Hey! The First said not to kill me!" Lisa rolled back and then dashed to her right side and rushed towards the demons. She needed to be as far as possible from what was about to happen next.

"Three," Lisa said as she ran while unclipping the handles of the light blades, "two," Lisa then turned around to the left side sharply as soon as the demons started to rush towards her. "One," Lisa said as a loud 'boom' thundered in the cavern. She glanced at the explosion which had flung many of the demons into the air, along with the body parts of the ones that were closest to the explosion, as she dived onto the ground and stumbled behind a rock that protected her from the resulting falling debris.

Lisa heard blood-curdling screams and roars all around her as the light from the explosion faded away slowly. She broke cover and then ran towards the panicked demons that were getting up off the ground while throwing aside any body parts that landed on them. Lisa pressed down on the buttons that activated the light blades and then ran at the remaining demons that were in her way. Her target was the tunnel behind them, and her mission was to get out of the cavern she was in. Lisa had no idea if the tunnel would take her to safety or not, but she needed to get out of the cavern before more demons came through.

Lisa felt as if her body was going on autopilot; the nanites enhancing her already enhanced agility as she leaned back from a sword swing from one of the enraged demons while her boots hit the blood-soaked ground. She then swung her light blade clean through the head of one of the demons. Lisa manoeuvred herself out of the way of another swing by ducking jumping, and rolling around before her blades cut through the demons' weapons like a hot knife through butter and then cut through the armour they were wearing.

She then rushed towards the tunnel while catching a glimpse of the First looking down at her from the ledge right above her head. But Lisa didn't stop and stare.. instead, she continued to make her way through the demons that were rushing at her. Sher beheaded three more, bisected two others, and stabbed one more demon before she made it past the demons. She jumped over body parts and dead bodies while making a dash for the mouth of the tunnel.

She was already running away from the demonic horde.

Hearing the thundering footsteps behind her, Lisa continued running without looking to see the demons snarling at her. They were getting closer and closer while Lisa was nearly at the mouth of the tunnel. However, once she entered the mouth, the sounds behind her stopped… she only heard growls and snarls coming from the demons. Lisa turned at the mouth of the tunnel while panting and saw the First, in Buffy's form, smiling at her while its arm was raised up into the air.

"Run, little Slayer," the First said shaking her head. Lisa was panting as she looked at the enraged demons behind the First, and then her eyes shifted back to the First. "Wherever you run, I will find you. And where I find you, my children will not be far behind."

Lisa didn't know what to say. All she knew was that she could feel a warm breeze brush past her, 'this tunnel must lead to somewhere close to the surface. It just has to, or why else would there be a breeze. It could be a way out of the Hellmouth and… and… wait, if there's an exit then why hasn't the demons left?' Lisa wondered as she glared at the First and clipped the handles of her deactivated light blades to her belt. Lisa then remembered what it was that the First said earlier, that the Hellmouth was sealed, 'so maybe it's that seal preventing the demons, including the First, from getting out.'

"Yeah, that has to be it," Lisa thought turning back towards the tunnel. She ran through the mouth while taking out her subspace radio and making another call to the Vantage- or any other Alliance vessel.

TBC

 


	20. Chapter 20

**Starfleet Command, San Francisco, Earth.**

With the Stargate on the grounds of Starfleet Command having its event horizon shielded, there were no more incoming Kull Warriors. In the meantime, engineers from the Vantage were being guarded by an SG-team while they connected a tablet to a panel near the ground. It was the control unit for the Stargate, and the engineers were now checking on the gate address that the wormhole was connected from. In the meantime, Slayers, Angel, Spike, and Kathy were taking care of the Kull Warrior all over San Francisco and Oakland; in some areas the Slayers were yelling at the remaining Starfleet officers and Federation Security Forces to take people who hadn't gone into the underground bunkers to cover.

Slowly but surely, the Kull Warriors were being cut down. The invasion was nearly over. Back in Starfleet Command, Buffy, Josie, and two other Slayers were taking out one Kull Warrior after another. With the ships above them providing information on hot zones, areas where the Kull Warriors hadn't been killed yet. For Josie, it was a surreal moment as she fought back to back with one of the Slayers she read about in the Watcher and Slayer diaries. She swung the Scythe, beheading one Kull after another while Buffy and the other three Slayers with her used their Lightblades to effortlessly take out one Kull after another.

"We have Starfleet Command nearly clear," Buffy said as she swung her blade, nearly bisecting the Kull. "Faith, take the others and…." There was an audible gasp from Buffy before she could finish her sentence. Josie was the first to hear it. The woman turned around to see Buffy stumbling back a step away from her. The Lightblade was deactivated as it fell out of her grip and to the ground while her left hand reached up to the side of her head. Josie saw Buffy's eyes widen as the Kull warrior crumpled to the ground, followed by herself as she stumbled backwards.

"Miss Summers!" yelled Josie as the Kull she just stabbed fell to the ground dead. The other two Slayers, Colleen and Karri, rushed to Buffy's side after killing the Kulls they were facing. Josie kneeled down while Karrie reached down with one hand and felt for a pulse.

"She's alive," Karri said as Colleen reached down and gently shook Buffy. In the meantime, Karri contacted Faith and told her that Buffy was unconscious. It was just then that Buffy moved her head while groaning.

"No… no…" Buffy mumbled with her eyes closed tight.

"Well, not exactly unconscious," Karri said as Buffy's eyes were rapidly moving under her eyelids, "I…"

"No," Buffy mumbled as Karri described to Faith what exactly was happening to Buffy. In the meantime, the latter found herself in a brightly lit cavern. She looked around with eyes wide open in stunned silence at the raging columns of fire that were burning from pools of black and bubbling liquid. She then stared at the rocky hard ground beneath her feet and then back up to the thousands of pale creatures that gathered around her. She stepped in front of one of them and waved her hands over its eyes, and then she put her hands down and stared while her heart beat rapidly.

Buffy was staring into what looked like a vampire, albeit a type she hadn't seen before; it was pale, faces were more demonic looking than the ones she used to fight against hundreds of years ago on Earth, they had sharp claws, teeth, yellow eyes and pointed ears just like the Master. Scattered among these vampires were thousand's of demons; tall, short, armed, unarmed, those with more than two arms, more than two legs- a virtual smorgasbord of evil surrounded Buffy.

And they were all growling as they looked upwards.

Narrowing her eyes, Buffy turned around and looked up. And her heart immediately fell. Buffy could just barely make her out, but the Slayer knew that it was her youngest daughter hanging in the air. Her body was horizontally splayed out, her front facing the thousands of demons beneath her while red and yellow energy around her wrists and ankles were keeping her in the air.

"No!" yelled Buffy as she ran towards her daughter, "Lisa! Lisa!" Buffy yelled at the top of her lung as she remained looking upwards. The closer she got to Lisa, the more Buffy could see the bruises and cuts covering her daughter's face. It was just when Buffy was nearly beneath the hanging Lisa that the older Slayer heard screams of agony escaping Lisa's lips. Buffy stopped and stared as something invisible slashed Lisa through her clothes and through her skin. "No!" Buffy yelled as blood poured down from the slashes on Lisa's body and towards the ground. Buffy took off running once again until she was in the area where the blood fell onto a group of sigils that were carved on the ground.

"It.. it can't be," Buffy thought to herself as the blood began moving on its own into the carvings on the ground She recognized the sigils that were carved, the very same sigils that were used, with drops of the bloods of several Slayers, to divert the Earth's magical energy to block the Hellmouths. Buffy covered her eyes at the bright flash of red light that followed after the blood moved into the grooves of the sigils.

Upon opening her eyes once again, Buffy stared at the red sky over her head. She looked around at the smashed remains of star ships that littered the ground as far as the eye could see. Buffy saw she wasn't in the cavern anymore, she was outside… on the grounds of Starfleet Command. Hearing a metallic screeching sound, Buffy looked up to see fiery debris falling towards the ground in the distance.

"Lisa!" yelled Buffy turning away from the large fireballs that impacted the ground with a 'boom'. "Lisa!" Buffy was rooted to the spot as she spun on her heels while yelling her daughter's name. "Willow! Xander! Jon! Dawn!" Spinning around upon hearing the sound of thunder in the distance, Buffy stared with widened eyes and a hanging jaw as the Vantage streaked down through the reddish clouds.

"No!" yelled Buffy as she shot up to a seating position, startling the three women. Buffy was panting heavily as she stared at the three women before tapping the device in her left ear. "Faith, I need you and all senior Slayers to the Vantage.

"B?" Faith asked as she stabbed a Kull before pulling back her Lightblade and at the same time kicking the Kull away, "you may be done on your end, but…" Faith swung her blade and then cut through another Kull before ducking her head as a fist from behind just missed her, "we still have a few here."

"Faith, it's about Lisa," Buffy said, "I… I think she's in the Hellmouth."

At hearing the words, 'Hellmouth', Josie and the others looked at each other before turning back to look at Buffy. "She's there, Faith," Buffy whispered, "I… I had a psychic vision, and… the demons down there are going to kill her."

"Who do you need?" Faith bluntly asked as she kicked the bottom of her boot into the face of another Kull warrior, "call 'em out, B."

"Vantage, prepare a beam out of the following Slayers directly to the armoury," Buffy said as she was being helped up, "tell Jon I need to talk to him as well. I know where Lisa is, the Hellmouth."

"Understood," Jon's First Officer said before he turned his head and told one of the bridge crew to contact Jon, "tell him a team of Slayers will meet him in the Armoury. And tell him that Colonel Summers is in the Hellmouth." The middle-aged man then told Buffy that they were ready to receive names.

"You, Rona, Angel, Spike, Kathy, Vi, Julie," Buffy gave off a list of names; names that were relayed to the Vantage which tagged the subcutaneous transmitters on each of the Slayers and vampires. Once Buffy ordered a beam out, a team of ten Slayers – most senior Slayers with the most experience – were beamed up to the Vantage. But not before Buffy told Josie that she had to remain on the surface. Josie was about to say that she needed to be with the other Slayers, but Buffy interjected by saying they would see each other again before they left orbit.

"There's a lot we need to talk about," Buffy said before she vanished in white light, leaving behind Karri and Colleen with Josie. The both of them stood up and asked Josie if she was still willing to fight; and all Josie could do was nod her head before she and the others headed for the next hotspot.

**Infirmary, Vantage.**

In the meantime, Jon was standing next to Willow who was lying down on a bed in the infirmary. Her head was still ringing and she was exhausted even though her body had already healed the injuries she received from the battle with Adria. As for Vala, she was lying next to Willow with her eyes closed.

"She's exhausted, and the nanites have only begun fixing her injuries," Willow whispered looking at Vala before turning her head to Jon. Jon had already told her about the destruction of the Persephone, and the fact that Atlantis would be diverting the plasma stream for the next five to six hours.

"We're running scans of the surface," Jon said nodding his head, "but so far, we haven't had any luck. We haven't even been able to detect the hyperspace window that should have brought her to Earth, and you know hyperspace windows, even the tiny ones, are hard to miss."

"This is the only planet that supports life," Willow whispered lying down, "she has to be here. Have.. have you told Buffy that the Persephone was destroyed?"

"She knows," Jon whispered, "and I already relayed what Dawn told me; a window was detected just before the particle stream destroyed the ship."

"Then she's out there somewhere, Jon," Willow whispered, "and…"

"General, sir," a screen turned on to Jon's right side. It was one of the bridge crew on the screen who continued, "we received a message from Miss Summers on the surface. She knows where Colonel Summers has gone."

"Where?" Jon asked while Willow winced in pain from her shoulder as she propped herself onto her elbow and turned to look at the screen behind her.

"The Hellmouth, in Sunnydale," the man said as a stunned Jon turned to Willow, who was just as stunned. "And sir, Miss Summers and ten of her Slayers… including Spike, Angel, and Kathy have been beamed up to the armoury for a rescue mission."

"Tell them I'm on my way," Jon said as he turned to Willow. The redhead was pushing herself to a seated position while whispering, 'I'm coming too'. But Jon shook his head, "you're not at full strength," he said as Willow looked back up at him. "Your head is still ringing, you're still dizzy, your body's in pain, and…"

"My injuries have healed," Willow said as a doctor, the grey-haired man in charge of the infirmary on the Vantage, rushed to the bed as Willow tried to get to her feet.

"General!" yelled the man, Dr. Chambers, gently at Willow "what do you think you're doing?"

"I have to go and help rescue Lisa," Willow said as she pushed herself off the bed. Jon rushed forward when Willow hunched over before she closed her eyes. She fell into Jon's arms just as the Doctor rushed to their side. Jon helped Willow back onto the bed in a seated position.

"Easy, easy," Jon said as her stepped back and the Doctor helped Willow lie down, "you're the one who told me you were dizzy, remember."

"You're exhausted, General," the Doctor said, "your body took a beating and, yes, I know it's healed up, but it'll still take time for the dizziness and the ringing in your ears to go away."

"I…."

"I'm in charge of the infirmary, General," the Doctor said with a serious tone in his voice, "my word is law here. And my word is, you are not going planet-side for any mission."

"Jon," Willow said as she started to see two of him before closing her eyes, "we need to know if we can beam them in, and then beam them back."

"I know," Jon said. Willow then sighed, and nodded her head before telling Jon to go. Jon nodded his head, and then turned around before rushing out the infirmary doors. Upon reaching the hallway, he pressed the earpiece he was wearing and ordered his Second in Command, "I want one wing of fighters to head at best possible speed to Sunnydale. I was a close up scan of the area underneath the city. We haven't been able to get Lisa's transmitter from up here using the most advanced sensors, here's hoping the sensors on the Arrows will be able to get her location."

"Understood," the middle-aged man said before he relayed the order to Red Wing.

**The Enterprise, now.**

Data, Picard, and the rest of the bridge crew made Main Engineering the secondary command center since the bridge was more or less inoperable. All the main controls were switched down to Engineering, and were manned by operations, tactical, and navigation officers in designated areas while the engineers were going about their own work to restore power to the rest of the ship.

The Captain was standing, his hands on the central console, in the middle of Main engineering in front of the warp core while Riker and the others, including Data and Laforge, stood on the other side of the round table.

"The city-ship's shields are… well, for lack of a better word, amazing," Riker said as he was looking down at the center table which had a screen showing several Pegasus Alliance ships surrounding Atlantis which was still diverting the particle stream away from Earth.

"Any news from DS9?" asked Picard.

"The Station has been secured, Captain," Data said, "the Cardassian's have been incapacitated by, according to Worf, a group of very able warrior women."

"I see," Picard nodded his head before turning to Data, "speaking of warrior women, have you any news on Miss Charney, the school teacher?"

"I am afraid not, Captain," Data said as her pressed the screen on the center console, which then zoomed down to the communicator he had given her earlier. It was lying among shattered glass and debris after Josie smashed through a window to escape from Kull Warriors that were trying to kill her. Data then refocused the sensors on the many women killing the Kull Warriors with blades of light. "Our sensor arrays are in need of repair, Captain. I cannot give you accurate readings on the women who are fighting on the ground."

"Captain," Lt. Daniels said as he rushed up to Picard, "we're getting a message from one of the Pegasus Alliance ships over Starfleet Command, the Tianjiang. They've given us coordinates of areas that have been cleared."

"Inform Starfleet Security," Picard said, "have them send Security personnel to those areas that have been cleared. Inform the commander of the Tianjiang that we would like to liaise with their security forces."

"Captain?" Laforge said, "we're getting energy spikes from the surface. Some of the women are being beamed away and… and we have four of the Pegasus fighters heading to…. One second… to Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale?" Picard asked as he looked up at Laforge, "what's…"

"Sir," Daniels said after he sent a message down to the Tianjiang, "I'm getting a message from the Pegasus Vessel, Vantage. General Jon O'Neil, sir."

"On audio," Picard said.

"This is General Jon O'Neill to the Enterprise," Jon said as goosebumps erupted over his arms at the knowledge that he would be the first, instead of his older self, to talk to Picard. He just wondered if the man looked like the actor, and if his voice sounded similar as well, "I'm guessing this is the Federation flag ship?"

"General," Picard said as he stared at the four fighters making their way to Sunnydale, "this is Captain Jen-Luc Picard of the Enterprise."

'Yes,' Jon mentally cheered before resolving to gloat at his older self that he talked to Picard, 'oh just stop it.' Jon shook his head before continuing to speak, "we believe that one of our life pods from the destroyed Persephone landed somewhere in Sunnydale. We've sent a retrieval team to perform a search and rescue mission. I just wanted to give you a heads-up."

"Inform Starfleet Security, Lt. Daniels," Picard said as he looked at the man before turning back to the center console, "General, I know I have a lot of questions to ask you, and… well… it seems as if the fighting's nearly at an end. I can only guess that the Federation Council and Starfleet Command would like to meet with your representatives very soon."

"Well, we'll have to wait for that moment," Jon said, "that would have to be arranged between our leaders and yours."

"Of course," Picard said just as he received news that Voyager had come alongside the Enterprise. The Captain nodded his head before turning his attention back to Jon, "General, I will have Starfleet Security escort your fighters in their search for your missing crewmember."

"That's great," Jon said nodding his head as he strode towards the armoury, "O'Neill out." Jon then ordered a secured communications channel to Admiral Adama on the Galactica, Thor on the O'Neill Two, and Teal'c on the Chulak. He told them about Lisa being in the Hellmouth, and that a group of Arrows were heading for Sunnydale to run deep scans.

"Our scans have shown no signs of a hyperspace window," Apollo said as he stared at the hologram of Earth being projected from the central table in the CIC, "are you sure she's down there?"

"Buffy had a psychic vision," Jon said as he neared the bridge while several members of the crew were running around with tools so that they could repair the internal damage done to conduits and wiring. "She said it was bad. Really, really bad. So, be prepared for anything."

**The Hellmouth, 15 minutes later.**

Lisa had been running through one tunnel to another. She was panting while sweat beaded on her forehead as the heat around her started to take its toll. She wasn't sure of how long she had been down in the tunnels, especially since her compass, her watch, and her flashlight stopped working. Lisa leaned back against the curved rocky and rough wall of the tunnel and bent down as she grabbed her knees with her hands.

'How long?' Lisa thought as she stared down the dark tunnel in front of her, and then turned her head towards the direction of the darkness she ran through. The breeze she felt earlier was gone, as if it was a trick to get her into the tunnels. It would be two minutes before she stopped for a rest that her equipment failed.

Even her lightblades were ineffective when she ignited them to provide some light. The tunnel, even with the light from the blade, seemed to go on forever as she ran as fast as possible. Several minutes, what seemed like hours to her, Lisa stopped running. She was panting as she looked ahead by holding up her lit blade, and then turned around and raised her blade again.

It was still darkness as far as the eye could see.

Shaking her head, Lisa turned the blade off, and was covered in darkness once again. Lisa then stopped to lean against the wall. She felt dizzy and had a sharp pain in her chest. She felt as if she was moving when she was in fact standing still against the wall. Lisa rubbed her forehead while gritting her teeth as she felt her body becoming lighter, and then a weight forced down upon her. A weight that pushed her forward from the wall she was leaning against, until she fell onto the dry and rocky tunnel floor.

Lisa was panting as she shook her head while feeling her body grow lighter once again while she lay on the floor, and then heavier once again. It felt as if she was in a plane that was making controlled movements, going up and then down in the air. 'But that's not possible, I'm in a tunnel, and…' Lisa then turned her head with a start and stared at the darkness to her left. She felt a breeze brushing past her. Slowly getting up to her feet, Lisa grabbed the handle of one of her lightblades and ignited it. The light emitted down the tunnel, lighting up the walls in her immediate area but not the darkness beyond. But now she felt the breeze again. Lisa placed her hand on the cave wall and then used it to guide her as she cautiously walked towards the breeze. She continued to walk cautiously until she saw flickering light in the distance. Lisa stopped walking and stared at the light.

Her heart was racing when she heard growls and snarls from behind. She turned around and stared into the darkness behind her while she reached for her other handle. At the same time she got into a battle stance, holding up the blade for light while igniting her second lightblade to strike whatever was running towards her.. And then she heard snarls from behind her. Lisa turned just to see the light in the distance blocked by several bodies. She felt a sharp clawed hand shove her to the floor as the light at the literal end of the tunnel vanished.

She swung the blade in her hand, but as the light reflected off a pale monster; she felt a foot slam down against the side of her face. And the darkness took her.

**Pegasus Alliance Arrow Fighter Interceptor, designation Red Leader.**

Lt. Topher 'Ramshackle' Barnes' Arrow was hurtling across the air with three other Arrow towards the location of Sunnydale; the site where one of their own had landed after the destruction of the Persephone. The blue glow emitting from the engines of the four fighters pushed the vessels towards the city where the Hellmouth was located. It had been only a minute since they received orders from Jon to travel to Sunnydale, and now they were two minutes away from the edge of the city.

"Stay in formation," Lt. Barnes said over the radio as he pressed sections on the panel in front of him, "activate scanners. Set them for deep scan. From what we've been told, the Hellmouth not only gives off a load of energy, it's actually being blocked by another form of energy. Energy that could…"

"You could just call it magic, Ramshackle," chuckled a woman in the tailing Arrow, Lt. Ashia 'Roller' Ishida.

"Can it, Roller," Lt. Barnes said as a smile formed on his face. "Ok, fine. There's magic energy down there that could block our scans. The higher ups are thinking that the closer we get to the ground and run scans, the more chances we'll have of getting an idea of where Colonel Summers is located."

"If the Vantage couldn't pick it up from up there, then…"

"Then we still try," said Lt. Barnes to the Arrow pilot to his port side.

"We getting two unknown contacts," Roller said as two unknown ships appeared on her scanners.

"I got it too," the fourth pilot said as he looked at his scanner and then out the clear canopy, before turning back to his scanner.

"Must be the Starfleet escorts General O'Neill told us about," Lt. Barnes said just as two shuttle craft flew on either side of the Pegasus Arrows. Barnes looked out his canopy at the sleek ships with the characteristic blue and white nacelles before he pressed a button, "this is Lt. Topher Barnes to Federation Shuttle craft, I take it you guys are our escorts?"

"Lt. Barnes, this is Ensign Sig Myers… yes, we are."

"Good then," Barnes whispered as they passed the Sunnydale border. The six ships were kilometres above the highest building in the city as they began scanning. Lt. Barnes had heard stories of Sunnydale, especially since his great- great- great-great-great grandmother was from the city. She was one of the first to board the Talon after the nuclear weapons fell and destroyed Sunnydale. The city now looked very different than the one he had seen in pictures. There were towers, high-rises, and smaller buildings all over the city. It was more of a sprawling metropolis that the city that he had heard about. He flew over Kingman's Bluff, the parts of town where the Magic Box and the Espresso Pump were once located. They were all gone now and replaced by road and buildings that were anywhere between fifteen to thirty stories tall.

But Barnes mission wasn't to go on a sightseeing tour of his past. He looked down at the scanners which were still unable to penetrate the energy that covered the Hellmouth.

"Nothing," Lt. Barnes whispered while the Federation officers in the shuttles were asking for an information on what they were looking for. Lt. Barnes explained that they believed Lisa, or rather Colonel Summers' life pod jumped into an area underneath the city. The Federation officers were curious, and they voiced their curiosity. However, all the response they received on how the Arrows knew that Lisa could be underneath the city was met with, "its classified". The Federation officers scowled at the answer, but they didn't say anything since it was highly likely that if the situation was reversed… they would say the same thing. However, they were also aware that the Arrows would need all the help they could get.

And so, the shuttles started scanning the city, but there was no luck. Even they were curious as to why their deep ground scans were not showing them anything below the waste management system.

'Still nothing', Barnes thought to himself as he continued flying for two more minutes. He was getting the same readings unchanged from the moment they began scanning. Suddenly, a thought popped to his head and he said, "The rest of you stay here and continue scanning, I'm going down there."

"What?" one of the shuttle pilots asked as he looked up from his console to see Barnes' Arrow diving down towards the city, "hey!"

"One Kilometer, nine hundred, eight hundred, seven hundred," the Arrow was diving towards the ground while Barnes stared at the screen on the console in front of him He glanced at the altimeter and the other instruments which showed that he was going down at a fast rate of speed. And then there was the voice of the Shuttle pilot behind him demanding to know what he was doing. "Four hundred, three hundred, Two… there!" Barnes pulled up and levelled off as his Arrow zipped two hundred meters over the road and pedestrians below who looked up before running panicked for cover. The pilot of the shuttlecraft behind Lt. Barnes' Arrow had to reassure everyone running on the side of the roads, and the floating vehicles that were moving aside despite the Arrow and the shuttlecraft being out of their range, that the Arrow wasn't a danger as it darted over the roads, people, and buildings while scanning.

Lt. Barnes' heart was racing as he stared at the console in front of him where he could see an unclear outline of the caverns and tunnels that formed the Hellmouth. And then he pulled up slightly when he was heading for Sunnydale High School hool as he flew over trees which were swaying every-which way as he flew over them. He approached the school, and then caught a 'ping' which lasted for a second before vanishing as he continued to pull up. The ping was from Lisa's subcutaneous transmitter, and Lt. Barnes had found her location.

She was in the center of the Hellmouth, "Red Leader to Vantage Actual, we found her. We know where she is." Barnes then slowed his ascent until joining the rest of his team. It was then that he apologized to the Shuttle craft pilot who had to follow him down until they were just a hundred meters off the ground, "but I'm guessing you have some good readings?"

"No," the pilot said confused while shaking his head, "have you?"

"All I can say is thanks for escorting us," Barnes said as he maneuvered his Arrow until he was facing the two Shuttlecraft, "we found her." Lt. Barnes then ordered Red Team back to San Francisco; and the two shuttlecraft watched them leave before sending the data they collected on the Arrows scans to Starfleet Intelligence.

**Several minutes Later.**

"Yoohoo." Lisa felt a tremble on the hard ground she found herself lying on. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself staring at a smirking Buffy who had her arms crossed over her chest. Lisa closed her eyes again while reaching for her lightblades handle, but her hand gripped air before landing on the side of her waist. It was gone. "Looking for those?" Buffy said as she turned her head left and nodded at the pale, fanged creature that was holding the handle of the lightblade in its hand.

Lisa narrowed her eyes at the monster as it snarled at her while holding the handle with two hands. She then, as she stood up, looked around and saw that she was surrounded by the creatures that looked like some different breed of vampires. It was when she was spinning around that she noticed the handle of her second lightblade with another vampire. She then looked down at herself when she felt a breeze hit her body.

She wasn't wearing her vest anymore. She looked around and saw that it lay torn, and all of its contents crushed on the hard ground. Lisa's heart was racing as she saw crowds surrounding her starting to grow; it seemed as if there was thousands upon thousands of vampires and other demons around her.

"My great army," the First, as Buffy, said. Lisa spun around and glared at the First while her hands were clenched into fists while she tried to come up with something… anything, that would get her out of this predicaments. However, a part of Lisa knew that there was no way for her to get out of this situation alive. She knew that even if she had her lightblades, she wouldn't be able to make a dent in the numbers of demons and vampires surrounding her… all of them howling and screaming for blood. Lisa knew that even with the nanites in her body augmenting her Slayer abilities, there was no way she would survive what's coming next.

Lisa turned to the sneering Buffy who said, "your blood will spill on the sigils." Lisa stared with a confused expression at the First who pointed downwards. Lisa then looked down and saw various symbols etched onto the ground below her. Lisa then, with her mouth hanging open, looked back up at the First.

"The end is here, little Slayer," the First said before turning to one of the pale vampires. "You know what to do." Lisa saw the vampire nod its head before staring at Lisa while licking its lips, "make sure the blood flows onto the sigils, and then… only when the ritual has begun… then you can drink the rest."

"No," Lisa shook her head.

"Turn her," the First said, as Buffy, while glaring at Lisa, "I want to see Buffy on her knees before you kill your mother."

"No," Lisa shook her head as she got into battle position, "I…"

It was then that the ground shook. The demons, vampires, and the First turned their attention to just as several meters away where there was a fireball that reached high up into the air. In the spacious and high-ceilinged cavern, the ground shook again at another fireball, and then another, and then another. There were screams and howls of pain from the demons as the First turned towards Lisa, "bleed her dry!"

Before the vampire that was ordered to bleed Lisa, and then turn her, dashed towards her. It suddenly stopped at screeching sounds about a hundred meters away. She turned her head to the right and saw a crowd of demons moved away with roars and growls as white light flashed. And then there were flashes of yellow, red, and green, and blue. Lisa smiled at the sounds of weapon fire before turning to the vampire that was gripping one of her lightblade handles.

"You have something of mine," she whispered before running towards the vampire. At the same time, the vampire that was about to kill Lisa, who was distracted by the flashes of white light, turned and narrowed its eyes as Lisa rushed for the lightblade handle. It knew that the vampire holding the handle was distracted by the sudden sounds of weapons fire and the screams and howls of death from the demons around them filling the vast chamber.

The vampire remembered its order to bleed Lisa, and that was what it would do. No matter what. It dashed for Lisa, confident that it could get the girl before she reached her weapons. He would free his brethren from the Hellmouth.

He would be responsible for the end of the world. And it would be an honour to serve at the left hand of the First Evil. Nearing Lisa, the Vampire growled. And Lisa, almost at the Lightblade handle, saw out of the corner of her eyes that the vampire leapt towards her after getting a running start. Lisa deftly shifted her body, the vampire's movement seemingly extremely slow. The vampire leapt post her before she shifted her body again. She then ran to the vampire which was holding her LIghtblade's handle, and grabbed his shoulder since his back was to her. Lisa turned him around sharply, and then punched his face while using her other hand to reach for the handle which had come loose from the surprise punch.

Lisa reached out her arm and the handle landed in her hand. Her fingers gripped the weapon tight before turning it on and then, once the plasma was ignited in the magnetic sheath, Lisa beheaded the vampire, and then turned around to slice the blade through the vampire which was ordered to kill her.

Her lightblade activated in her hand, Lisa searched for the other handle and then found it in the hands of one of a group of vampires running towards her. And she ran towards them while hearing a voice to her left shouting, "get down!"

Lisa ducked as yellow and red bursts of plasma mowed down the vampires and demons around her. Once the sounds of weapons fire were silent as she line of dead demons were formed towards her location, Lisa stood back up and turned to her left. A smile appeared on her face when she saw Buffy, Faith, Rona, and several other Slayers running towards her after putting down their arms. They had been firing their wrist repeaters while others, including Angel and Spike, were firing rapid fire plasma cannons – a Tau'ri technology that was developed for the Pegasus Alliance and Wraith war.

"Lisa!" Yelled Buffy as she ran to her daughter. The both of them hugged as the rest of the twelve Slayers, as well as Spike, Angel, and Kathy surrounded them as the vampires and demons regained their composures and were about to strike back. Parting from Buffy, Lisa looked around while Rona said that they needed to get out of the Hellmouth.

"There," Lisa cheered as she rushed out and grabbed the second lightblade handle and re-joined Buffy and the others as the demons started to get close. Faith, who was standing to Lisa's right, placed a disc shaped silver object on her skin before saying it was a transport enhancer courtesy of the Asgard. Lisa then nodded her head before noticing the same disc on the necks of the other Slayers and vampires.

"Melbourne," Faith said as she aimed the plasma repeater on her wrist up towards the snarling demons, "we need a beam up."

"Like right now," Buffy said as she aimed her repeater at the taller demons.

"Well, well," The First said in Buffy's form, "I see you really are still alive."

"The First," Angel whispered as he stared at the being that nearly had him kill himself hundreds of years ago.

"So, who will rescue the rescuers?" the First said as it looked around at the Slayers, "I mean I just needed one Slayer. And now I have even more. This is a bonus."

"Yea well, you can bite…." Buffy never got to finish what she wanted to say. Instead she trailed off as a screeching sound appeared before they vanished in a flash of white light.

The First opened its eyes wide before screaming "no!"

The light that enveloped Lisa vanished, and she found herself in a observation room looking down at the City of Sunnydale. Faith mentioned to Lisa that they were on the Melbourne before she dashed over to a panel on a bulkhead and notified the ship commander that they were on board. As the Melbourne started to rise into the air, Lisa turned and hugged Buffy tight.

"My hero," Buffy whispered. Lisa held her tighter, her heart which had been racing slowly coming to a slow beat as she continued hugging her mother.

TBC.

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Emergency Chambers of the Federation Council, Paris, Earth; a few minutes ago, while Adria was fighting against Willow.**

"Take it easy," Milly said as she deactivated her Lightblade and raised a hand into the air, silently signalling her Slayer Squad to deactivate their light-blades as well. They were faced with six officers from Starfleet Security after having exited the third turbo-lift from the council chambers deep underground Paris. Behind Milly, and surrounded by the Slayer Squad, were the frightened Council members… the very ones who had seen their colleagues cut down by weapons fire by the Kull Warriors.

They just entered the hallway on the final floor, the one before reaching the surface, after exiting the turbo lift and were heading for the fourth turbo-lift which would have taken them to the surface. In the middle of the hallway, the group heard the turbo-lift give off a 'ping' before the doors hissed open. As the doors opened, Milly and the other Slayers activated their Lightblades in case there were more Kull Warriors.

However, instead of Kull Warrior, inside the turbo-lift were several officers from Starfleet Security who aimed their phasers at the women. It was then that Milly, in relief, turned off the Light-blade in her hand and raised her hand while telling the officers to stand down, "we're friendlies."

"That doesn't explain the bodies in the main hallways on the main floor, and the bodies here," one of the officers said as he glanced at the dead bodies of the officers who were killed by the Kull Warriors and Adria earlier during their way to the location of the secured chambers.

"Lieutenant," said a voice from behind Milly as a hand fell gently on her shoulders. The young woman looked behind her and stepped aside as an older man in a white robe with pointed ears walked forward and stopped, "these women just saved the remaining councillors from an attack in the secure chamber."

"Am… Ambassador Spock," the officer who was pointing the phaser at Milly while the later stared at Spock in confusion as she wondered where she heard that name, "I'm sorry, sir. We were just notified that an enemy force broke into the secure chambers and that security teams were overwhelmed."

"There are many officers who have been killed," Spock said with an air of authority around him despite his calm demeanour, "these women were simply ordered by their superiors to escort us to safety. And that is where we were walking our way towards."

"And I'm guessing you're the cavalry," Milly asked staring at the officers.

One of the officers nodded before Milly and the other Slayers stood to one side and waved the frightened councillor towards the end of the hallway, and then to the Turbo-lift where there were already two officers in wait. She watched as one of the people, a middle aged human, was being carried out by two of the security team after taking his unconscious body from the arms of two councillors.

"Ambassador," an officer asked looking at the unconscious man, and then at the diplomat, "where is the President?"

"He is dead," Spock said to the surprise of the officers in the hallway. He then nodded at the man before looking back up at the Security officers, "the vice-president has been slightly injured by a plasma burst by the enemy forces these women dispatched and the ones that their superior officers are currently engaged in battle."

"Then my team and I should…." the Chief Security Officer nodded in the direction of the turbo-lift. He was going to take three members of his team to the lower chambers to stop the fighting, but his thoughts were interrupted by Milly.

"You really don't want to be down there," she said while wondering what Willow and Vala were doing to beat Adria, "trust me, you'll be getting in in General Rosenberg and Vala's way while they are taking down Adria. The General said she'll contact us by the time she was done, and if she's not done by now, then they're having a fight there that you are seriously not prepared for."

"I…."

"I have my orders to get these people out of here," Milly said staring at the officer and then at Spock, "which means I need to get you out of here as well, Ambassador." Milly then turned to the officers staring back at her, "and that includes all of you."

"But…."

"Lieutenant…" Spoke said staring at the one officer who was just speaking, "your name~

"Mulvany, sir," was the reply as Spock nodded his head. The Vulcan sensed that what Milly was saying was indeed the truth, as so far as they didn't want to be in the way of whatever fight Willow and Vala were having against Adria. He could tell from the emotions in the young woman's worried thoughts that it was best for everyone to get out of the way and back to the surface.

"Lt. Mulvany," Spock said turning towards the man, "lead the way out of here and to the surface. We need to get everyone out of here, in addition, the Vice-President needs to get medical attention. As I am sure the rest of us as well."

"Understood," Mulvany said before he ordered everyone to move out. A few minutes later, the Slayers were standing outside in the Paris air when Milly received a call through her headset from the Vantage that Willow and Vala were badly injured, but alive. They were given some quick treatment after the battle and then beamed up to the Vantage for medical attention. And most importantly, they had Adria as a prisoner.

It would be a few minutes after exiting the underground complex that Milly received orders that she and the other Slayers would be beamed back up to the Vantage. "Understood, sir," she told Jon before turning to Spock who the Slayers were talking to while the other councillors were getting medical attention, "Ambassador, I'm afraid we have to go." Milly still couldn't tell why Spock's name sounded so familiar.

"What Adria told us in the chamber regarding your people, the Tau'ri," said Spock, "what that true?"

"My grand-parents fought against the Goa'uld, Ambassador," Milly said as she nodded her head, "they told me stories of what the Goa'uld and the Ori did to this galaxy. Without my grand-parents' sacrifices, Earth would be very different today."

And Spock tilted his head at that remark. He was wondering why it was that no-one in a little over three hundred years had heard about the Tau'ri. Even the Vulcans hadn't heard of them before, but the way that Milly described her grand-parents fighting in a war against the Goa'uld and Ori was as if the battle was only recently. 'How could her grand-parents have fought. Human lifespan has been extended to a little over two hundred years, and this young woman isn't more than nineteen. It is possible that the Tau'ri are a form of humanoid that may live far longer than the ones that originated on Earth, but… even with her grandparents battling the Goa'uld and these Ori… how is it that no one in the Federation heard of these species?'

"I know you're thinking about a lot of things," Milly said as Spock narrowed his eyebrows. The young woman chuckled before saying that she took a wild guess, and continued to speak, "my superiors will be able to give you and your people all the information you need. In the meantime, Ambassador, we have to go."

Spock nodded his head as one of the other girls tapped their ear pieces and spoke to one of the Vantage bridge crew, "beam us up" she said. Spock then raised his hand as the young women gathered, and made the Vulcan salute before saying, "live long, and prosper."

"Wait a sec, you're…." a surprised Milly, finally recognising the name 'Spock' when the man said his famous line, squeeked just as she vanished in a flash of white light. Spock wondered what it was that the young woman was about to say, but thought to himself that it wasn't the last time he, or the Federation, would hear from the Tau'ri.

'Until we meet again,' Spock thought to himself before turning to the officers from Starfleet Security and Starfleet medical who were treating the injured and taking out bodies. Spock then walked towards one of the officers, and ordered him to inform the Enterprise of what happened.

**USS Enterprise, now.**

Captain Janeway, the Doctor, Ensign Kim, Paris, and B'Ellana, along with a few more engineers and medical personnel from Voyager, beamed over to the Enterprise after being given permission by Captain Picard. It was a few minutes later, after Janeway gathered her away team, that they beamed directly into Main Engineering on the Enterprise. Once the group materialized, Janeway breathed a sigh of relief at a sight of fellow officer on another Starfleet vessel, before a smile developed on her face as she stepped forward towards the oncoming Picard and reached out with her right hand. The two Captains then shook their hands together while they were surrounded by their respective senior crew.

"Captain Janeway," Picard said nodding his head while wondering what his fellow Captain must have endured in the Delta Quadrant. He wondered about her being the first Federation Captain to explore the previously unknown region of the Milky Way Galaxy. A part of him was envious of how many people she and her crew met, and another part of him was glad that they were finally able to return home… and this time with allies who were able to help them push back an assault on Earth, led by an enemy none of them had heard of before, "welcome back to Earth. It's an honour to meet you and your crew."

"It's great to be back, Captain," Janeway said shaking his hand, "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"As do I," Picard replied letting go her hand before introducing his senior staff.

"Welcome home, Captain," Riker said shaking Janeway's hand.

"Thank you, Commander," Janeway replied before introducing her staff. She said that Commander Chakotay was on Voyager overseeing the damage caused by the fight with the Cardassians and the Breen. She said that the Doctor would be able to help the medical team on the Enterprise, and that Paris was his assistant.

"Ah," Picard said nodding at the Doctor, "I have much about you, Doctor."

"As have I, Captain," the Doctor said before Picard turned to Paris.

"Ensign, I take it that you are the son of Admiral Owen Paris?"

"Yes, sir," was the reply.

"Your father is in the med bay," Picard said as Paris' face showed worry about the condition of Admiral Paris, "but from what Dr. Crusher has said, he's going to make a full recovery." He then turned his head toward Data and asked him to accompany the Doctor and Paris, as well as the nursing staff brought over, to the infirmary. The Doctor nodded his head and shook Data's hand before they walked through the hall to the right and towards the turbo lift. In the meantime, Data's voice could be heard asking the Doctor about his mobile emitter.

As the three of them walked away, Janeway turned back to looking at Picard and breathed a sigh of relief. "From what I've been told, those armoured warriors have been nearly neutralized."

"Yes," Riker said as the group walked over to the central console and watched the screen, "we've already had Federation Security directed to the areas where those things have been neutralized. They're keeping the peace with those… warrior women."

Janeway watched the screen as the Slayers fought off the dwindling numbers of the Kull warriors. One by one, the Kull Warriors fell on the grounds of Starfleet Command, in San Francisco, in various areas of Oakland, right outside Starfleet Academy, and on the Golden Gate Bridge. The remaining Federation Councillors who escaped the battle between Adria, Vala and Willow, also contacted Federation Security to reassure people that they were alright. In the meantime, back in Main Engineering, Janeway was staring at the armoured women as they fought before looking up, "there's a lot we need to talk about, Captain."

Janeway looked up and met his eyes. She knew what it was that Picard wanted to talk about. And she replied, "there is, Captain." And then Janeway looked back down at the screen in front of her, "but for now, we need to take care of our people."

"Indeed," Picard said as he placed his hands on the table and then looked back down at the screen as well. He watched one Kull Warrior after another fall in battle against the women warriors. Picard then looked up at Janeway who was still staring transfixed at the women as they fought, and then looked back down, "I suspect you have a lot to say about these people, Captain?"

"We heard that they killed off an entire species," Riker added as Laforge looked at Janeway who looked back up at them and nodded her head. Riker then walked around the table until he reached one end and then asked, "will the Federation Council censure them, or…"

"They're not Federation citizens," Picard said looking at Riker before turning to Janeway just as Laforge spoke up.

"Ba'al said something about attacking the homeworld of the Tau'ri," he said as Picard and Riker looked at each other, the latter rubbing his chin while confirming that he recalled the Goa'uld mentioning that fact, "and they attacked Earth, and…"

"That's because the Tau'ri are from Earth," Janeway said to the surprise of Riker and the others.

"That's not possible," Picard said shaking his head while Riker looked on confused, "humanity didn't achieve Warp until 2063. There wasn't any project for deep space exploration or colonization, classified or otherwise, before that."

That's something we'd have to ask them," Janeway said before telling them that she and her crew reached the Tau'ri home base only hours ago, which was when they heard about the attack on Earth, "Captain, Commander, they are from Earth. Their leader, General Rosenberg, said that she was born in Sunnydale, California. In 1985."

"Excuse me?" Laforge asked in disbelief while Riker and Picard looked on confused.

"We have a lot to talk about," Janeway said, "and… and I mean when I say 'a lot'. It's something that will take time to understand and…" Janeway then sighed while shaking her head, before saying, "believe me when I say that it's going to be a very long story."

"I'm certain the Federation Council, Starfleet Command and Starfleet Intelligence would want to hear everything you have to report, Captain," Picard said.

"Believe me, there's a lot that needs to be said," Janeway answered.

**Voyager, at that same time.**

"So, this is Earth," Neelix whispered as he looked down at the blue planet from one of the viewports in the empty Mess Hall. He looked around and imagined the crew milling around in celebration, at least that what would have been like if they hadn't just survived what could only be described as a mini-war in the orbit of Earth. Neelix's eyes focused on the damaged Federation and Romulan ships, and the shuttles that were flying up from Earth so that the crews of those damaged ships could be evacuated.

He then looked up at the Vantage and several of the Pegasus Alliance ships that released drones which were busy repairing their hulls. Neelix then looked back down on the planet below and thought, 'this is home now.' He knew that there was no way back to the Delta Quadrant, at least not until Starfleet improved its Warp capabilities or unless the Pegasus Alliance provided Starfleet with hyperdrives, 'or else the trip by Warp could take years.'

His thoughts then shifted to the woman he loved, 'Kes, I wish you were here to see Earth. I wish…. I wish you were here next to me. Standing with me.' Neelix was glad she was alive, and hoped that she let go of the anger she displayed upon returning to Voyager a year ago. She almost destroyed the ship using her mental powers because she was angry at Janeway and the crew for taking her away from home. It wasn't until a hologram of the younger Kes reminded the older one that they chose to leave Ocampa voluntarily for a life of adventure.

Neelix talked to her before she left the ship, 'she said she was going back to Ocampa,' he thought to himself. However, he also knew the danger the Ocampa faced from the Kazon sects. The Ocampa had reserves of energy from the Caretaker's array to keep them well fed and their underground civilization powered for the next six years. But once that power ran out… once the reserves were gone, the Ocampa would have to survive on a dead world surrounded by enemies.

Very powerful enemies. Neelix watched the Vantage as he thought about Kes. He wanted to see her safe and sound. Without any hesitation, he resolved to ask someone… anyone from the Pegasus Alliance to keep an eye on the Ocampans, 'with their Hyperdrive, they can watch over them. Maybe keep them safe from the Kazon. I… I don't know what else they can do.' Neelix then released a sigh, 'maybe I'll just talk to them. That General I met on Atlantis was their leader, so maybe I should talk to her.' Neelix then turned away from the viewport and walked towards the door at the port side of the Mess Hall. He wanted to go to the bridge, he needed to talk to Commander Chakotay since the Captain was on the Enterprise.

**Astrometrics Lab, Voyager, at that same time.**

Seven still remembered everything.

She had her hands on the console in front of her as she leaned forward while staring at the image of Earth on the large curved screen in front of her. Seven still remembered everyone she assimilated, she still retained the knowledge and memories of the people the Borg assimilated; all thanks to her modified brain. She looked down from the large curved screen and pressed a few buttons before looking back up to show Atlantis still diverting the particle beam from the sun. As she stared back down at the panel, she caught sight of her hands and brought them up to her face. She was still in awe about having a new body, a genetically modified human body.

She was the first Borg to ever regain not just independence, but her former body as well. As Seven looked back up at the screen she wondered what this meant for her in Starfleet. She wondered if she would be seen as human, or simply an object of curiosity for a little while- while she would be debriefed by Starfleet Command, and then by Starfleet Security, and then Starfleet Intelligence who she was sure would want as many secrets of the Borg as possible. She wondered if she would be taken away by Section Thirty One- and she shuddered at the thought.

'Is… it this fear?' Seven thought as her hand trembled at the thought of being taken away by Section Thirty One. She then closed her eyes tight and breathed in deeply as if it was the most normal thing to do… as if she had been doing it all her life. But the act of trying to keep calm without implants to regulate her feelings and her body was alien to her.

Looking back up at the screen, Seven watched as the Pegasus Alliance ships were being repaired while wondering if she would ever be allowed back in space again, 'would I be allowed to become a member of the crew in any Starfleet vessel? Would I be seen as a danger? Or…' Seven then looked back down and pressed a few sections of the console in front of her as memories of her time as a child poured into her mind. Her fingers tapped the console in front of her with a fluid grace as she asked, "Computer, pull up all records on Annika Hansen's extended family." The computer beeped and then Seven looked up at the large screen to see a picture, a current picture, of her aunt. Her only family member.

'How would she see me?' Seven thought to herself. Seven closed her eyes and pulled a personal memory of herself eating strawberries at her Aunt's house. She remembered the taste of the fruit, the feeling of it in her hand, and how sweet it smelled. Seven opened her eyes and stared at the picture on the screen in front of her wondering if she should meet her Aunt.

'Or should I ask for permission to leave with the Pegasus Fleet,' Seven thought to herself, 'I have the memories of every place that Starfleet has explored, and if Starfleet's role is the exploration of the galaxy, then…' Seven then sighed as she shook her head and rubbed her forehead, "I'm not a Starfleet officer," she whispered looking back up at her Aunt. "What do I do?"

Seven was thankful to Janeway for freeing her from the Collective and helping her regain her humanity and individuality. And now, Seven didn't know if she should be Seven-of-Nine, or Annika Hanson. She didn't know where to begin her life… her human life; on Earth, or in another galaxy where she could have the required peace to find who she is and could be- without facing the damage and destruction she was a part of during her time with the Collective. At least for the moment… she wanted to find herself before she had to face her mistakes.

'I was a part of so many deaths here,' Seven though as she stared at her human hands, 'so many species assimilated… and I participated in many of those attacks.' She then looked away from her hands and up to the screen in front of her that was showing he Earth, 'I'll talk to Captain Janeway when she returns from the Enterprise. Yes, that is what I will do.'

**Orbit over Earth, five hours later.**

This was it; the war was truly over for all sides. For the Pegasus Alliance, the last three strongholds of the Goa'uld were taken out of the unconscious Adria's mind by Willow. Once the planets were identified, three of the Aurora class ships were sent to each world without the knowledge of the Federation. The Aurora class ships' duties were clear, destroy the planets so that nothing alive was left. And that's what happened. With the surface of the first planet destroyed by Horizon weapons, the Stargate in Stargate Command was deactivated thanks to the destruction of the Stargate in the planet of origin.

Eventually, the other Pegasus ships left for home, leaving only the Galactica, the Chulak, the O'Neill Two, and the Vantage in orbit over Earth. The ships over the other worlds were replaced by Starfleet medical vessels and their escorts, enabling the Pegasus Alliance ships to return home as well. Only Bajor had four Pegasus Alliance medical vessels still in orbit along with their escort ships. Given the level of destruction on the planet, as well as the death and injuries, the Alliance felt it best to leave those ships in orbit of Bajor for humanitarian aid.

For the next month while the Federation took care of the situation on the ground.

On the Vantage bridge, things returned to a normal pace as a fully recovered Willow walked onto the bridge with Faith, Buffy and Lisa, General O'Neill, and Daniel by her side. The group was soon joined by Jon as they stood around a table in the rear of the bridge that was projecting a hologram of Earth and the remaining ships as Atlantis came into view and stopped next to the Vantage.

"So," Buffy asked, "now what?"

Jon then crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the hologram of Earth as the Starfleet and Federation ships were being salvaged, their crews transported to Earth, while the Federation vessels that still had warp capabilities returned to their own homeworlds. Even the Romulans returned to Romulus with the thanks of Starfleet Command.

"An Admiral named Alynna Nechayev," Jon said with a smirk on his lips, "wants to meet us." He then looked up from behind the hologram of Earth and continued, "we received two requests from Voyager's captain; one, Neelix would like for us to check in on the planet Ocampa."

"They sent us the coordinates?" Willow asked.

"Yep," Jon nodded his head, "and the second thing is that Seven of Nine would like the option to return to Pegasus with us."

"Why?" General O'Neill asked.

"Janeway mentioned something about Seven being afraid that she'll be experimented on by Starfleet Intelligence," Jon said.

"I watched the shows with Dad, there was nothing in the TV series that tells us that Starfleet intelligence will experiment on her," Lisa stated.

"Some of the people she assimilated when she was a Borg included an agent from this super secret organization…"

"Section Thirty One," Faith finished Jon's sentence, "kinda like their CIA and NSA all rolled up into one unethical mess?"

"Janeway didn't exactly say it that way, the unethical part I mean," Jon said looking up at Faith just as he received notification that the Vantage was being hailed by Atlantis. "On speakers."

"Jon," Dawn said as her voice came through the speakers, "we've notified MidWay station that the battle's over. They'll be sending over Ensign Wildman and her little girl to Atlantis in a few minutes. What's the plan?"

Jon looked over at Willow before saying that they were all going home.

"Dawn, I need you to create a data crystal and then copy data on the Stargate Program, bio's on Key personnel, and information on the Wraith threat. Everything we have on the Wraith, including case reports."

"Let's leave out the information on the Slayers," Buffy added.

"Got it, I'll hand everything over to Ensign Wildman when she leaves," Dawn said nodding her head before ordering on of the technicians to begin creating the data-crystal. "It'll take about an hour, or two."

"Copy that," Jon said before looking at the others, "if there's anything you want to do? Then now's the time. We'll leave after the crystal's been handed over."

TBC.

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Vantage, two hours into hyperspace.**

Seven looked out the window of her quarters at the blue and white tunnel- the walls pulsing with light- as the ship flew smoothly through this region of subspace.

"Are you sure about this?" Seven remembered Janeway asking after she returned to the Enterprise. Seven had submitted her request to leave the ship to Chakotay, who then submitted it to the Captain. Even he asked the same question.

Seven remembered standing with her hands behind her back as she glanced at Chakotay while Janeway lowered her head back down to the PADD in her hands. The older woman walked up the steps in her ready room, and then took a seat. Seven could see that the Captain was surprised at the request, Janeway's expression also showed a hint of sadness as she reread the reasons that Seven gave for requesting leaving Voyager.

"I cannot thank you enough for everything you did, Captain," Seven said as Janeway looked up at her. Seven stopped speaking at the expression on Janeway's face. A flood of emotions threatened to consume her as she stared at the Captain, and then at Chakotay who was looking back at her, and then back at Janeway. "I… I feel… I feel… I feel so many emotions at one that…" Seven had tears well up in her eyes before she looked away shaking her head, "I don't know why I'm crying, I…"

"You're human now," Janeway gently said with a smile before she got up from the couch and then walked back down the steps and gently placed her hands on Seven's shoulders, "emotions come with the territory."

"I'm afraid," Seven said looking back at Janeway, and then at Chakotay, and back at Janeway once again, "I.. I know what Starfleet Intelligence is capable off… I know what Section… I… I mean…."

"We want you to stay," Chakotay said, repeating the same thing he told her when Seven handed him the request, "but if this is your choice, then you have our support."

"And if you do stay, then I swear that I will do all I can to prevent anyone from harming you," Janeway whispered gently squeezing Seven's shoulders, "you are a member of my crew, you are a Federation citizen, and… and you are my friend. I swear they won't harm you."

Back in the present day, as Seven stared at the tunnel outside, she remembered thinking to herself that there wasn't a lot that could be done to protect her. Even if Starfleet Intelligence wouldn't interrogate or question, as it were, a Federation citizen against their will, Section Thirty One most likely would do something like that. In the end, Seven opted to leave Voyager. However, she left a video message for her Aunt on Earth explaining everything- including why she felt a need to leave.

'She'll probably think I was crying too much when I made the message,' Seven thought, giving out a chuckle, as she looked out at the tunnel. After the message was finished and transferred to a PADD, Seven prepared to depart the ship with Janeway by her side. Seven was packing whatever little items she had in Cargo bay Two with the Captain by her side. A few moments later, with a metal case in her hand, the two of them walked out into the hallway.

"Just so you know," the Captain said looking at Seven, "the senior staff wanted to give you a goodbye party. But given that the…"

"Organizing a farewell party would be an inefficient use of the crew's time," Seven interrupted with a serious look on her face as she turned her head to Janeway. "the ship is still damaged in many decks, and…"

"There's the Seven I know," Janeway whispered before nudging the woman with her elbow.

"Because it is true," Seven nodded her head, "there is no time for a farewell party."

"Well, the senior staff will still be saying goodbye to you at the transporter room," Janeway said as the two of them entered a turbolift. It would be a few seconds later that the turbo-lift doors opened once again, and tears immediately welled in Seven's eyes. The Voyager crew lined the hallway, all at attention as soon as the doors opened. Seven turned her head to Janeway once again and gave a small smile when the latter said with a smile on her face, "oh, did I say the senior staff? I meant everyone wanted to see you off too."

Seven turned her head towards Janeway and took in a deep breath before a small smile formed on her lip and nodded her head, "thank you, Captain." Janeway gently then placed her hand on Seven's shoulder, and the both of them stepped into the hallway together for the last time.

**Earth, Sunnydale, a day later; 0930 hours.**

Even though Josie met two heroes of Slayer lore in Buffy and Faith, she still couldn't believe that there were more out in the galaxy, 'not in this galaxy… not in the Milky Way, but in another galaxy.' Josie walked through a hallway of the school towards her homeroom class where her students were waiting- a few hours after the last Kull Warrior fell, this returned much to normal with the Federation Security Services cleaning up the bodies of the dead Kull warriors. It would be a few hours after the last Kull fell that the remaining ships over Earth left for Pegasus, but not after Josie introduced Buffy, Faith, and Willow to her watcher and the Coven in Devon.

"Good morning kids," Josie said stepping into her classroom. The door slid shut behind her as she glanced at the students taking their seats after they had been excitedly talking about the threat that passed them by yesterday. She smiled at the students while hearing mumbled 'good mornings', "I hope everyone's excited about today's lesson."

Josie smiled at the groans that emanated from the students as she put her bag on the desk. She then reached in and pulled out her PADD from her bag, and then activated it.

Looking back up at the students, Josie said, "Now, I know we had an incident yesterday in San Francisco," her eyes swept over the children who were looking back at her before she continued, "and now that it's over, I've been told to continue our original lesson plan." Josie then put the PADD down on the table while her students took out their own PADDs. She walked around the table and then gently sat down on the top of her desk and said, "I know that none of us were during the milestones that changed the way we view this world and the galaxy at large. I know none of us were present when Zephram Cochrane made his first warp flight, or when the Luna Base was established, or the first Warp 5 flight of the NX-Class Enterprise. We missed those pivotal moments in history."

The students looked at each other and nodded their heads. Josie then remembered what she and the others in the Coven were told, 'the truth about everything. I thought it was ridiculous but.. but it was the truth.' Josie smiled before continuing, "I have a feeling that we're in another milestone. Another point of historical significance that we should be proud to be a part off."

"And if that historical significance is equal to the historical significance of the Xindi attack?" one of the students, a male human, asked after raising his hand. "After all, yesterday we were invaded."

"We are still part of that history," Josie said with a smile as she recalled Willow telling her that the Vantage managed to sneak a worm into the Federation Global Network so as to wipe out all mention and pictures of Josie herself while she was helping to take down the Kull Warriors on the grounds of Starfleet Command, "and I have a feeling that we'll learn more about who we are, where we're going, and where we come from." Josie then took in a deep breath before she picked up her PADD, "and now, let's pick back up from where we finished yesterday."

As Josie began her class, she thought back to the day she said goodbye to Buffy, Faith, Lisa, and Willow. The blonde Slayer handed her a circular grey coloured device which had a recessed button in the middle, "If you ever need us to help save the world?" Buffy told Josie as she handed the Earth based Slayer the device, "press the button and we'll know you need help."

But before Josie could ask more about the device, Lisa added, "it releases a subspace SOS signal tuned to the frequency that Slayers in Pegasus use to communicate. The Midway Station will pick it up, and then we'll know that you'll need help."

"And we'll be back," Faith said nodding her head before nodding at Buffy and Lisa, "all of us will be back." And with a smile on her face, Josie was back to teaching her students.

**Starfleet Command, a week later.**

Janeway was exhausted. Her command of Voyager and their experiences in the delta Quadrant were being scrutinized and audited by everyone in Starfleet Command, Starfleet Security, and Starfleet intelligence. The last of whom were not happy when the Captain allowed Seven to leave Voyager for the Vantage, and then to Pegasus. In her log, she explained that Seven was a member of the crew, but she wasn't a Starfleet Officer. And thus, Janeway couldn't command her to stay on the ship… that she was free to leave if and when she liked.

That didn't make her many friends. Starfleet Intelligence wanted to study Seven- more specifically, they wanted to know what information she had on the Borg. However, Admiral Paris and several of the others did agree reluctantly that Janeway was in the right… that Seven was free to leave off her own free will. It had taken six months for the senior staff you be questioned, investigated, debriefed, and then released. The Marquis who joined her crew were pardoned for their previous transgressions due to the recommendation of Janeway's own logs that showed how dutiful and brave the Marquis were under her command.

It wasn't long before everyone, bar the senior staff, received new orders and new assignments while Voyager was undergoing a refit that would take another four months to be completed. The door to her quarters on the still slightly damaged Starfleet Command campus slid open, and she walked in.

"Lights, medium intensity," Janeway said as the door slid shut behind her. This was her quarters for the last few months since returning to Earth. Janeway walked over to the replicator and ordered a cup of coffee. She was due to meet Chakotay, Neelix, Kim, Paris, B'Ellana, and the Doctor in her quarters at fourteen hundred hours so that they could accompany each other to Starfleet Operations for a final debrief.

This was to be the most important debrief since Janeway and her crew returned to the Alpha Quadrant. Today was the day that Janeway and the others would be meeting with the new President, the new Federation Council, and members from each branch of Starfleet to discuss the Tau'ri issue. She had already submitted her reports and her ships logs, as did her crew, on their time in Atlantis. She was also aware that Starfleet Intelligence had gone through the data that was given to them by Willow and General O'Neill on the background of the Stargate Program, the Goa'uld, the Ori, and the Wraith. This even included their mission reports, and personnel files.

As Janeway sat down, with the cup of coffee in her hands, she shuddered at the memory of seeing a holographic representation of a Wraith. It was only two days ago that the data, which included several mission reports, was given the Holodeck treatment; and several Starfleet officers including Admiral Paris, Captain Picard, Data, Kim, Chakotay, Riker, and Janeway had seen the viciousness of the Wraith. They saw holo-representations of the aftermath of cullings where emancipated bodies lay on the ground like dried up husks. The group had also seen the Tau'ri battles against the Goa'uld, the Ori, and even the Lucien Alliance.

Janeway was aware that the civilian branches of the Federation government had seen the holo-reports as well. And she wondered what they would think of the Tau'ri. 'What would have happened if the Tau'ri hadn't found the Stargate?' Janeway thought as she leaned back on her couch, 'what if we encountered them the first time we achieved warp travel? What if the Goa'uld discovered and attacked the Vulcan's if they encountered each other? What if… there are so many what ifs.' Janeway sighed and closed her eyes while grasping the warm cup in her hands, 'now, what will the Federation Council do? Will they lodge an official protest against the Tau'ri since their campaign against the Goa'uld was what brought the latter to attack Earth again.' Janeway then sighed again before leaning forward and wondering if Ambassador Spock discovered something at the Vulcan Science academy.

'Either way, we'll find out later today if we'll take up the offer by General Rosenberg to have a meeting.'

**Ocampa, six months later.**

Kes knew that there were a little under four years left before the stores of energy, food and water in the massive underground complexthat housed the Ocampan people. Kes was lucky to have gotten back into the city thanks to a gap in the security field that was supposed to prevent any of the Kazon who were still searching for the city from finding an entrance. Once she went through, Kes made certain to seal the entrance for the foreseeable future. After sealing the gap, the elderly Kes made her way to the city. Over the two years since she had returned, the female Ocampa made a home for herself once again among her people.

As the only one they knew who had been out of the city and then returned, her stories were always favoured among the children. However, there were some adults who felt that Kes' stories about her adventures on Voyager, the people she met, and the action she had seen, could very well encourage others to venture out into the barren surface where the Kazon still existed.

"One day, we will have to leave this city," Kes would say to the Council of Elders every time she was brought before them after telling her stories to children and anyone who felt she shouldn't be speaking of the outside world, "the Caretaker has only given us so much before we either starve or go thirsty." Kes would stare in to the eyes of anyone who spoke up against the possibility of leaving the city, "I am already old and will probably be in the ground, dead, by the time the Caretaker's energy stores have run out. What will we do then?"

There were never any answers to that question before she was left alone; the people still criticising her for spreading stories having walked away from her. But she still spread the stories of Janeway, Paris, Voyager, the planets she visited, the people she met on those worlds- all her stories were written down by her in her diary… one shared with the other Ocampa in their vast database of stories.

It was one day that she was seated down in a corner of once of the many plazas in the complex where there were children seated around her. They were begging to hear more about her stories of flying through space. Kes chuckled lightly and then leaned forward. She was about to start speaking when she suddenly heard a screeching sound followed by loud gasps from all around her. Kes stood up on trembling legs as the children around her stood up and stumbled back while eyes opened wide, and looking right behind her.

Kes stood up and spun around to find a short haired blonde woman standing with her back to her. Surround the woman were two men in grey coloured uniforms with the woman in a short sleeved blue and red uniform. Kes noticed that the other Ocampa had mixed reactions; some approached the newcomers cautiously, while others stepped back while pulling others, both young and old, back with them.

"Who are you?" Kes asked. She didn't recognize the tell-tale transporter signature of a Federation transporter- this signature had a loud screech before a flash of bright white light instead of the Federations gentle hum. At least not that of Voyager, and then uniforms the three of them were wearing were different than Starfleet. As they turned towards her, Kes noticed the logo of a circle floating above a triangle on their sleeves, "you're not from the Federation?"

Kes narrowed her eyes at each person before settling her sights on the woman in the middle. Before the three of them could answer, Kes leaned forward at the blonde, recognition of her coming into her mind and whispered, "you. I remember seeing you on Voyager."

"Yes," the woman nodded her head as she led the other two walking by her side to Kes, "I remember you as well. I believe you were about to cause a warp core breach in engineering."

"Seven of Nine," Kes nodded her head before fixing her eyes to the former Borg's; the very same woman she was briefed on by Captain Janeway after she returned to physical form. Kes' mental abilities were already at a heightened state, so much so that to live with the other Ocampa, Kes had to learn to put mental blocks into her own mind to control her abilities. Kes made a conscious decision to not scan Seven's mind, but she couldn't get over the thought that something must have happened to push the former Borg away from Starfleet. "You are not wearing a Starfleet uniform."

"I have not been serving on Voyager for nearly six months," Seven said to a surprised Kes, "but before we begin, I should inform you that there have been some unique changes."

Kes glanced at the small logo just above Seven's left breast and then her eyes shifted to the two people next to her. Kes could see that the two men were armed with weapons that were holstered to their hips. Kes couldn't see the weapons clearly but knew enough to guess that they were not phasers, 'another form of energy weapon?' Kes looked away and back to Seven, "has the Federation fallen? Is Captain Janeway…"

"The Federation is rebuilding after a war," Seven told Kes before sighing and then telling Kes the story of how Voyager met the Tau'ri from Pegasus. The stunned Kes found it hard to believe, as did the Ocampans that remained to listen, whereas others had rushed to find the Elders. "It is difficult to believe, but I nearly died after a weapon used against another race of bio-mechanical beings that invaded Voyager interfered with my Borg nanites. My implants failed, and I would have been dead if not for the Tau'ri saving my life. They cloned a new body for me, and transferred my consciousness to this new, human body."

Kes looked closely and realized that the implant over Seven's left eye was missing, 'how could I have missed that,' she thought while saying, "but how do I know that this is all true? You…"

Seven then looked at the man next to her on the left and nodded her head. He reached into his side pocket and took out two tablets. Both were then handed to Kes while Seven said, "one is a message from Neelix. It's about six months old, but his words will corroborate everything I've said." She then motioned to the other tablet and said, "and the other is a proposal from the Pegasus Alliance. They have a proposition for you and the Ocampans."

"What kind of proposition?" Kes asked just as several of the Elders rushed to the group.

"A new home," Seven said as Kes' eyes went wide open.

TBC.


	23. Chapter 23

**Josie's apartment, 0600 hours.**

Josie yawned while she pulled the blanket off her and then slowly sat up on her bed. She turned her head to the right where, thought groggy eyes, watched beams of sunlight filter through the curtains that covered on of the two windows in her room.

"Computer," she groaned turning her body before hanging her legs off the edge of the bed, "what is the time?"

"Seven in the morning," the computer spoke in a monotonous voice while Josie rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She knew that she had two hours before having to leave for Sunnydale High, but before that there was the matter of her regular routine. The young woman going out of bed and stretched her arms over her head and yawned once again before walking into the rest-room to freshen up. After a few minutes, Josie walked out and headed for her closet. Opening the doors, she glanced at the case in the closet that contained the Slayer Scythe before looking up at the clothes hanging off one of the two beams. She then reached in and grabbed what she was looking for, a pair of shorts and a sports bra.

Josie then closed the doors to the closet, took off her pyjama's, and then put on her work-out clothes before she grabbed a rectangular shaped object connected to straps from a table. Josie then wrapped the straps tightly around her left arm. She then grabbed a smaller case before opening it and taking out two small buds. She closed the case, placed it back on the table and then placed the buds in her ear. Josie then reached for, and picked up, a dark brown object that she attached around her wrist before tapping the top of the object. She looked on as a screen activated on the object, a communication device, that showed her the time and weather.

"Nice and warm," she muttered about the weather before pressing down on the side of the object around her wrist. After a few seconds, there was a beeping sound from the earbuds, indicating that the wrist communication device, was connected and she would be able to speak 'hands-free' to anyone whoo contacts her. Taking a deep breath, Josie then looked back up at the mirror.

After tying her hair back into a ponytail, Josie turned on the device on her arm and smiled as music flowed through the wireless earbuds. She then jogged out of her bedroom, and into the living room, and then after grabbing the keys, she ran out the front door. Josie jogged down the stairs before exiting her apartment building. At the landing, just before the stairs that led to the pavement, Josie did some quick stretches before she rushed down the stairs and then started to jog two blocks around her apartment complex.

With the sun just barely out in the sky, Josie felt the warm breeze brush past her as she ran. Her mind was focused on her student's lesson plan for the day, and then she mentally scheduled training for herself later that evening before going out on patrol.

'Ever since Lisa was rescued from the Hellmouth, I've had to deal with about sixty-seven vampires in the past three of the six months since I met Buffy and the others,' Josie thought to herself after the twentieth minute of jogging. 'It's like the rescue kicked up some residual energy from the Hellmouth. And that energy had been attracting these vampires.' Josie then made a turn left on the sidewalk and continued to jog, 'but this many vampires in six months? That's just unheard of, and the most of them were only in the past three nights. The most I ever had was ten in a year… now there's an increase in the number of encounters.' Josie recalled talking to her watcher, Amara Livingston, about it but neither she nor the Devon Coven detected anything strange, 'they said that the seals are still in place. They're the ones who told me about some energy escaping, but it was supposed to be harmless, and... wait, what?'

As she approached the stairs that led up to her apartment complex, Josie saw a yellowish skinned man walking down the stairs with a bald older man, and next to the both of them was a red haired woman. The three of them were reaching the pavement just as Josie slowed down and came to a stop with her heart racing from the jog and her body covered in sweat thanks to the warm weather.

"Miss Charney," Data, the yellowish tinted man that Josie had seen, said after he noticed the woman, "good morning."

"Yeah," Josie whispered as she caught her breath before glancing at the bald man who Data introduced as Captain Picard of the Enterprise and the redhead was the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Beverly Crusher. Josie nodded at them before asking, "and the three of you are here because…..?" Josie's voice trailed off while waiting for an explanation.

"We would like to talk to you," the Captain said with his hands in his pockets, "in fact, my superiors at Starfleet have read Mr Data's reports on your, shall we say, unique gifts."

"Ah," Josie said crossing her arms over her chest, "and….?"

"It is strange that we simply have only the reports of myself and my collegues whom you helped rescue at Starfleet Command," Data said with an innocent smile on his face, "however, all recordings of you have been erased from the Federation and Starfleet network. We wondered how it was that I, who remember everything, Geordie, and several other officers who have seen you in action were unable to find any information on you."

"That's something that…"

"And then we discovered a worm," Picard said as Josie turned back towards him and smirked, "apparently, it permanently removed all information on what you did. And, apparently, the changes it made included records that you were in Sunnydale during that entire incident."

"You helped saved lives," the doctor said, "and with your gifts, you could be an asset with…"

"No," Josie shook her head, "I'm not Starfleet's asset, nor am I the Federation's asset. I'm simply me, a regular human being who…."

"We have reports written by Captain Janeway when she was with General Rosenberg and…" Picard smiled before saying, "ah, yes, Slayers is what I believe she called those girls."

"And that is what you called yourself as well," Data said.

"Miss Charnie.."

"Josie. Just Josie."

"Josie," Dr Crusher said, "I would like for you to come with us to the Enterprise. Starfleet Medical, Starfleet Intelligence, and Starfleet Command wants an entire physical done on you for your own safety. We need to know if these gifts you have are related to the long dead Eugenics program that initiated World War Three. We need to know if you…"

"I'm not," Josie said shaking her head, "there's nothing that is genetically enhanced about me."

"Then come with us," Picard said.

"How come it took you so long to approach me?" asked Josie with a suspicious look on her face as she looked around the street before facing the three Starfleet officers once again.

"It didn't take too long to find out who you were and where you lived," Picard said while a gentle breeze passed the four of them, "As a history teacher, you know about what happened during the third world war. You know what danger the enhanced…"

"I thought we're supposed to have risen over that whole thing?" Josie asked shrugging, "you now, the whole enhanced thing. Not that I'm admitting I'm genetically enhanced or anything."

"Human Genetical Enhancements are still illegal," Data spoke.

"You scanned me using that thing when I saved you and your friends," Josie said looking at Data, "did you find anything weird?"

"That was a simple tricorder, not a medical tricorder, so the readings it took were inaccurate," Data said, "as to your initial question, the reason we did not come to you months ago was due to which branch of Starfleet would have to approach you. We are aware that you and the other women who arrived are Slayers; enough people have heard that word during the battle on Earth for you not to deny that you are a Slayer. However, we do not know what that entails. And given that you are a Slayer, we believe you have a way to contact the others. Which is why we had to be cautious in contacting you… we do not want to make you feel as if you were in danger."

"Listen," Josie said as she narrowed her eyes, still not understanding what the three of them wanted exactly. "I just finished jogging. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I need a shower, and honestly, I stink right now. So, lets simply say that I have no genetic enhancements, and my abilities have nothing to do with Starfleet or the Federation. And that's the answer you have to deal with," Josie raised her eyebrows and waited for an answer.

It was then that Dr Crusher took a step forward and said, "at least let me run a full medical scan on you so that our superiors would be relieved to know that there are no genetic enhancements."

"But then, you'd still like to know why I have these abilities," Josie said.

"Or how it is that you jumped through a breach that we have yet to examine," Data added.

"That too," Josie stared at Dr Crusher while motioning at Data.

"Josie, I can guarantee that Starfleet or the Federation will not bother a private citizen unless it is absolutely necessary," Picard said, "but the abilities you have and how you have them…. Well, there are some within Starfleet that could see you as a threat."

"I'm not a threat," Josie said turning her head at Picard.

"All we're saying is that there are some that could see you as an Augment," Dr Crusher said, "I…"

"Tell your superiors this," Josie said taking a step forward, having lost all patience, "I am a Slayer. That does not mean I am an Augment. I am fully human with no genetic enhancements."

"Our superiors will not take your word for it," Picard said, his voice filled with concern at the rumours he had heard about Section 31 and what they were capable off. If the three of them couldn't convince Josie that she needed to come with them for a medical examination, then it would be Section 31 that some of the higher-ups in Starfleet would be turning to. The only problem was that Section 31 was deeply classified, even Picard himself wasn't supposed to know about it. He simply reached out with one hand and asked again gently, "I'm imploring you to come with us. All we want is a medical examination, that is all."

"It will be non-evasive, and…."

"Look, I get you are concerned, but let's stop going round and round with this," Josie said staring at Crusher, and then at Picard, and then at Data, "I do not consent to a medical examination because I am not an Augment. If there's anyone from Starfleet or the Federation that harasses me again, I will lodge a complaint. And, if someone still comes after me? Believe me when I say that there will be people coming after them," Josie took another step forward, "if anyone does take me? Trust me when I say that nothing technological can hide me anywhere on this planet. And if they take me to another world? Well, my fellow Slayers from Pegasus will have something to say about that." Josie then sighed after seeing the exhausted looks on the three Starfleet officers, and took a step back, "now, if you would excuse me?"

Data stepped to one side as Josie strode past him. They watched her go up the stairs before Picard finally asked about something he remembered one of the Shuttlecraft escorting the Arrows over Sunnydale wrote in their reports after returning to the Enterprise, "why were Slayers beamed under this city?" The three officers watched Josie stop at the third step before turning around with a frown on her face, "General O'Neill said that they lost someone in Sunnydale. We thought that maybe this person was lost on the surface. But now, from the shuttles that escorted the fighters that scanned the city some two hundred meters off the ground, we still found nothing under the waste management system. But when we used a much higher sensor bandwidth and scanned from a range of fifty meters over that same area, we discovered a series of tunnels and…"

"What have you done?" Josie demanded as she rushed down the stairs with eyes wide open, her face reddening in disbelief as she recalled having seen a shuttle flying low near Sunnydale High a few days ago. However, she wasn't aware why the shuttle flew so low, and that incident was pushed out of her mind… until now. "Don't tell me that Starfleet sent anyone down there to…."

'The increase in vampires and demonic forces,' Josie thought to herself, 'don't tell me that they… no, the Hellmouth is sealed via a spell. Nothing sound be able to break through and… no… no… the demons, vampires, monsters can't break out. As for the energy, there would always be a little leak…. But… oh no." Josie's heart started to race while thinking, "the seal is meant to keep things in, and then it was itself sealed by a cave in… but if someone started digging… if someone…."

"Is there someone down there?" Josie demanded to know as she approached the Captain. However, Data stepped in front of her, and the two of them stared at each other for a second. Josie rolled her hands into fists, she didn't have time for any kind of games, not when she thought that it was possible that the Hellmouth could be breached, "don't screw around with me. Is there someone down there?"

Data, Picard, and Dr. Crusher looked at each other before the Captain said that several scientists were beamed down to the edge of the city where the distance from the surface to the entrance of the vast network of caves and tunnels beneath the futuristic foundations of Sunnydale was smaller. Upon hearing that, Josie asked when did they begin their journey underground.

"Four days ago," Data said while Josie's jaw dropped downward in shock.

'So the increase in demonic attacks happened before these guys did whatever they did,' Josie thought to herself, 'so the attacks after the incident on Earth was probably becasue of the rescue. But the sudden surge in Vampire attacks over the past few days was because of them. Damn it, what did they do?'

"Pull them out of there, now," Josie said shaking her head before she stared at Data, and then at Picard, and then at Data once again, "this isn't a joke. This isn't something that I'm saying to… you know… damn it…" Josie turned to Picard who stared at her in confusion, as did Dr. Crusher, "tell me the truth, is there someone there? Do you really have a team down there?"

"Yes," Picard answered as he narrowed his eyes, "Ms Charney, why do you feel we should pull them back?"

"Because if they get into that system of tunnels and caverns," Josie said as she waved her arms animatedly, "then they…. You…. Starfleet… will kill us all."

"Excuse me?" Dr Crusher said while Data and Picard looked at each other, and then back at Josie.

"The Earth… you will kill everyone on this planet", an exaserated Josie said, "You… look you want to know the truth? Fine, but tell them to stop doing what they're doing and get out of there."

"Ms Charney, I can't simply stop a scientific expedition without a reason, that…"

"How's this for a reason?" Josie lowered her voice and hissed so that no one else could hear her, "they get in? Not only are the people in the expedition dead, they will release hell on Earth. And I do not mean a figurative hell…. I mean literal Hell. Do you understand me?" Josie could see that Picard's and Crusher were not believing her, in fact, the way they looked at each other was as it they were silently agreeing that she was crazy. Josie turned to Data staring at her quizzically, "you're an android."

"Yes," Data nodded his head.

"Can you tell if I'm telling you the truth?"

"Yes," Data said as he reached for and held her wrist, "I apologize."

"Doesn't matter," Josie said, "apologies do not matter because if those people are not pulled back, then Hell…. I mean everything that…." Josie shifted her eyes to Picard and Crusher, "everything that you heard about when you were children. Everything that's hiding in the darkness. Demons, vampires, monsters, pure and undiluted evil… you will release all of it. And…"

"Okay," Crusher said as she walked past Picard who just stood rooted to the spot as he stared at Josie, "I think we need to take you to Starfleet Medical." Crusher was about to reach for Josie when Data spoke out, his eyes checking if Josie's pupils dilated, his fingers feeling her heartrate and her body temperature, his programming was checking her facial markers for signs of deception.

"Dr Crusher," Data shook his head while letting go of Josie's wrist, "I believe she is telling the truth, or at least she believes she is telling the truth."

"Data?" Crusher said shaking her head, "you heard what she said. Demons, vampires, monsters, and… look, I just want to take her in for…"

"You need to stop them," Josie said shaking her head, "you.. you need to stop them. Or you bring the end. And… and if that happens… the only thing that's ever remaining of the human race… or anything on this planet? All that would remain are the people serving on the ships in orbit. We are looking at the fall of this world."

Picard didn't know what to say. He heard strange things every day, he saw strange things every day- it was in fact his mission to encounter the strange. But this.. what he just heard from Josie 'out-stranged' them all. Here was a woman talking about the end of the world, she was talking about demons, monsters, vampires… things that this rational mind was saying that it was simply not possible. What his rational mind instead told him was Josie had seen some aliens that she didn't recognize in Sunnydale. It was something understandable.

But then there was Data who said that Josie was telling the truth. And a part of Picard told himself that Data would never lie unless he was expressly ordered to do so. He listened to Crusher who said that the fact that Josie actually believed what she was saying was troubling. Picard then listened to a very worried and fearful Josie saying that she wasn't crazy, that just because there was something that they didn't understand, that she shouldn't be thought of as crazy.

And that's what did it. Picard pressed the badge on his shirt and called up to the Enterprise, "contact the expedition team that's looking into the Sunnydale underground. Have them stop whatever progress they have made. I want them out of those tunnels."

"Understood," Riker said looking confused before relaying the order. In the meantime, Picard then looked up at Josie before he demanded an explanation.

"Come on up to my apartment," Josie sighed while motioning towards herself, "I'm not wearing this sweaty old thing while I explain this whole weird thing. You guys can have some coffee while I shower, and… and you need to keep an open mind."

"For demons?" Crusher said with her eyebrows raised.

"We have alien races living on Earth," Josie deadpanned, "demons are really that unbelievable?"

"Demons could be classified as an alien species that…"

"No," Josie said shaking her head before motioning towards the door, "I'll…."

"Captain," Riker's voice came across the Comm badge on Picard's chest, "we've tried contacting the expedition teams," upon hearing that, Josie stopped talking, "sir, we've lost contact. We're not detecting their life-signs, or their equipment. We can't even contact the main camp on the surface."

Josie stared at Picard as her heart raced. Thoughts went through her head of what could have happened to the expedition- and none of those thoughts were good. Her biggest fear was that the seal was breached from the outside and something broke out, 'or somethings. Some things broke out. Dear God….' Josie turned to PIcard just as her communicator beeped. Josie pressed the button on her earbud, connecting the call, and then spoke, "yeah?"

"Josie," Amara said over her earbuds, "we're getting a sudden surge of energy from the Hellmouth."

"How bad?" Picard stared at the terror on JOsie's face. He saw blood flush away from her face as her hand trembled in Data's hands.

"Miss Charney?" Data asked.

"Get.. get me a portal, five minutes," Josie said, "send everyone we have, MIss AMara. I need a way to..."

"If that seal breaches, Josie" Amara said.

"MAke it three minutes," Josie said, "I need a portal there and..."

"A portal?" Picard asked.

"Send everyone we have, and use the device I gave you to contact the Pegasus Slayers,," Josie said before disconnecting the call and staring at Data, and then at Picard and Crsuher, "you may not believe me. And frankly, I don;t care. Right now, our world is in danger. The Seal beneath this city is protecting us from pure evil. And it could be breached at any time. So either you help me, or stay out of my way."

"We..." Picard said confused.

"Stay out of my way then," Josie said before roughly pulling her hand out of Data's and then running up the stairs. She needed her weapons to save the world. Just as any Slayer would do if they were in the same situation.

TBC.


	24. Chapter 24

**Josie's Apartment, Earth.**

"Captain!" Doctor Crusher exclaimed, her face expressing her disbelief over what she, Picard, and Data told a few minutes ago down at the sidewalk, while Josie rushed up the stairs and back into her apartment building, "you cannot, in all seriousness, believe what she just said. Hell being released on Earth, Demons, vampires… that's just a disturbed mind giving explanations for the unknown."

Data stared at the closing front entrance of the apartment building, his positronic brain processing what Josie had just revealed while listening to what the Doctor was telling the Captain. Data then turned back and spoke, "I felt her pulse, Captain, Doctor. I searched for any signs of deception," Crusher and Picard turned to him as he continued, "her skin temperature, her pupils, and her breathing showed she believes what she says is the truth."

"She believes it is true," Crusher highlighted, "and that is precisely the problem.' Crusher then turned to Picard and then back to Data once again, "it's not the truth supported by years of collecting data and scientific research," she then turned to Picard again, who was now staring at the entrance of the building and continued, "she believes it's true. Captain… Jean-Luc, we need to get her back to Starfleet Medical."

Picard looked back at the Doctor and was about to say something when Data interjected.

"However, there is still no explanation of her abilities or the how she arrived in Starfleet Command during the invasion," Data clarified looking at both the Captain and then at the Doctor, "we performed numerous tests and quantum level scans on the surrounding area in that hallway… but there was no detection of the typical energy signature that normally would accompany a wormhole."

"She did ask whoever it was on the other side of the communicator to open a portal," Picard added before pressing down on his badge that connected himself to the Enterprise, "Number One, begin scanning a five hundred meter radius of my location, I want a detailed analysis of any energy fluctuations," Picard then signalled at the group to head up the stairs while continuing to send orders, "and have an away team ready and prepared to beam down to the archaeological dig outside Sunnydale."

"Understood," Riker said while confused at the first part of the order, "Captain, what kind of energy fluctuations are we searching for?"

"I don't know yet," Picard whispered as he, Data, and Crusher rushed up the stairs to the third floor and then towards the open door down the hallway, "initiate scans, Number One." As they were heading up the stair, Picard turned his head towards Dr. Crusher who was frowning, and whispered, "I feel we need to know more, Beverly. We'll hear her out further before making a final decision." Crusher sighed and nodded her head as Data opened the front door that led into the building.

**USS Enterprise, at that same time.**

Riker nodded at one of the crew who then began scanning the surrounding area around Picard's location as directed. He then ordered an away team to Transporter Room Three while placing his hands on his hips. In the meantime, Counsellor Troi leaned forward on her chair and narrowed her eyes while staring out the viewscreen at the blue planet below. While Picard and the others walked up the stairs towards Josie's apartment, Troi stood up and placed one hand over her chest while taking a few steps forward before she stood by Riker's side. In the distance she could see McKinley station with Voyager within its arms as the ship remained under repair.

"Will," Troi whispered looking down at the planet below while rubbing her chest, "something's not right."

"Do you sense something?" Riker asked glancing at Troi. It was then he noticed she was rubbing her chest just below her neck and between her collar bones with a worried expression, "Deanna?

Troi continued to stare at the planet below while having a sinking feeling in her gut. She felt as if she would fall into an ocean of darkness that was ready to take her. She physically stepped back at feeling a gasping maw biting into her with evil and hate. There was so much hate, and a darkness she couldn't explain. She felt as if she was sinking into an ocean of darkness… so much so that it felt as if the sounds around her were getting further and further away. Troi felt her arms tremble while hearing the distant call of a familiar male voice. She felt herself sinking deeper into this 'ocean' as she panted while sweat gathered on her forehead.

"Deanna?"

There was the voice again.

"Deanna?"

Troi felt someone shaking her shoulder and that was what brought her back to the real world. Troi panted before she turned to Riker who stared at her with concern on her face, "Commander?"

"Did you sense something?" Riker asked in concern.

"I… I don't know what I sensed," Troi answer glancing back out the view screen at the planet below. She then turned back to Riker, "it felt… wrong. I can't explain it. It's like we're just skirting around something dark… like a blackhole that is trying to suck in my body heat… I felt as if I was sinking in an ocean of cold darkness and…" Troi shook her head trying to think of something to say, something to describe what she was feeling, "… it's like I'm looking into a gapping maw and… and something is looking back at me. It's baring its teeth and… and I feel fear."

"You're not making much sense," Riker arched his eyebrow upwards. But before he could continue, the turbo lift opened at the rear of the bridge. Riker turned to see who it was, only to be surprised when he saw Guinan walk onto the bridge with eyes wide open in fear. Riker knew she was in the new Ten-Forward on board the Enterprise, and the last he had seen her was when the new bar opened last night. It was a place for the crew to get away from their jobs- even if it was only for just a few minutes.

"I can just describe what I felt as… evil," Troi whispered as Guinan strode down the steps at the rear of the bridge. She was heading towards Riker and Troi.

"Commander," Guinan whispered with her eyes widened in fear as she stared out at the planet through the view screen, "where's the captain?"

"On the surface, in Sunnydale," he replied, his voice hitched at the end in surprise as Guinan turned sharply to her right before stepping back panting and then turning towards Riker again. But before she could speak, Troi interjected.

"Guinan," The Counsellor gulped while she stepped around Riker and then walked towards Guinan in small steps with her arms crossed over her chest, "you feel it, don't you? The fear? A great fear like… it feels like something dark… a dark force is trying to swallow you whole?"

Guinan nodded her head before she glanced at Riker and asked, "Commander, could we speak in the ready room?" Riker stared at Guinan with trepidation. The last time Guinan spoke with them happened to be the day he and the rest of the Senior Staff were informed about the Tau'ri and the Goa'uld. And now, Riker felt as if he was going to be getting more news that would be coming out of left field.

"Daniels," Riker said nodding at Guinan, "contact the Captain. Tell him that he's needed up here."

"Aye," Daniels replied while Riker turned back towards Guinan who continued to stare past him and Troi towards the planet below.

**Earth.**

Just as the door to Josie's apartment closed behind them, Picard received the message from the Enterprise that he was needed back on board the ship. However, it was at that exact moment that the Computer in Josie's apartment beeped before stating that a call was coming in from Devon.

"On screen," a worried Josie said as she walked out of her room and into the living room carrying a metallic case. The Three Starfleet officers watched as Josie placed the case on her couch and then they turned to the screen across from the couch turning on to show a grey haired woman with blue eyes and wearing a pair of orange rimmed glasses. The Captain noticed the greyish stone walls behind the woman where there were several people hurrying along with looks of worry on their faces. He then turned to Josie who said, "Miss Amara, how bad?"

"Very bad," Amara said while Crusher and Data looked at each other and then at Amara once again, "imagine the seal is like a container holding back this dark and evil energy for the past three hundred years. The energy was always leaking out, but it was manageable. It wasn't enough to call forth…"

"Miss Amara," Josie interrupted before she looked to her left at the three Starfleet officers. She then turned back to the screen and continued to speak after releasing a sigh when she noticed Picard about to say something, "listen, I have three Starfleet officers here."

Picard and the others saw the look Amara's face harden, "I thought everything about you was scrubbed clean from the Starfleet and Federation database?"

"There are some things that couldn't be scrubbed," Josie sighed before motioning for the officers to come into view of the Watcher, "Amara Kensington, this is Captain Picard, Data, and Dr. Crusher." Josie turned back to Amara, "they're from the USS Enterprise." Josie then sighed before continuing, "and they know about… everything." Josie could see that Amara was about to say something, but the Slayer continued, "they wanted to bring me in to Starfleet Medical and run tests. They think I'm a genetically enhanced human."

"Captain," Amara frowned, "a Slayer is not a medical curiosity." And before Picard and the others could continue, "and a Slayer is not part of any genetic engineering program. And while I would debate you, or Starfleet Medical, or Starfleet Command about this, there is no time. I take it that Josie told you about demons."

"Aliens," Crusher clarified.

"I suppose you could look at them that way," Amara said, "but they are not. Sunnydale lies on a convergence of mystical energy called a Hellmouth."

"Excuse me?" Picard narrowed his eyes while Data cocked his head to the side and Crusher frowned.

"A literal mouth of Hell," Josie explained looking at Picard who turned back towards her, "these things are not aliens coming to Earth to explore or trade or to say hello. The walls between dimensions are the thinnest here. And there is more than one Hell dimension that's trying to push through the veil to take over this world. To enslave or kill humanity."

"I…." Crusher managed to say before being interrupted.

"And there are hundreds of Hell dimensions just as there are hundreds of heavenly dimensions," Amara said. "But these things from the Hellmouth are not angels coming to save us. These are all the nightmares that haunts your thoughts. Demons, vampires, goblins, orcs, the dead… " Picard noticed Amara tense slightly, "the Old Ones". Data looked on with curiosity while Picard and Crusher looked at each other with quizzical expressions while Amara continued, "Pure demons..." Amara explained referring to the Old Ones, "…are more powerful than the demons that have cross bred with humans and other demons. And the Slayer was created to fight these forces of darkness for the forces of light. You.."

"Miss Amara," Josie said as she took out the Slayer Scythe from its case and looked up at her Watcher, "its time."

Amara looked over at Josie before turning back to Picard and the others, "the Slayer has been protecting the Earth long before the Federation and Starfleet came into being. The Slayer is a calling, and now Josie will do her duty." Before the officers could say anything, Amara turned to Josie and said, "I will have myself, and a team, teleported to the location of the suspected breach." She then sighed before continuing, "I know this is your first apocalyptic scenario, and…"

"I'm ready," Josie nodded just as Picard's badge beeped.

"Captain Picard," Riker's voice came over the commbadge on the bald man's chest, "you're needed back on the Enterprise." Josie stared at the Captain as he nodded his head before he turned to her and said that he wanted her to come with them to the Enterprise so that they could come up with a way to confirm what she and Amara said. Josie sighed and shook her head, "there's no time. You can…."

"Number One," the Captain said staring at Josie with an apologetic expression, "beam all of us out of here now." Josie frowned before turning to Amara who locked her jaw as she turning her head to the right and ordered someone offscreen to teleport Josie immediately to the location of the suspected breach. As Amara turned her head back to look at Josie through the screen in the Devon Coven's main command and control room, Picard received a message from Riker saying that the Enterprise's targeting scanners weren't able to find them.

"Energy from the Hellmouth has been sealed in for a long time," Amara explained, her face seemed drained off blood, "ordinarily some energy would seep through the seal, there's nothing that can be done about that but… but now the seal is cracking and…"

"Miss Amara," Josie said, "if the seal here cracks, how about the other ones?"

"Other ones?" Crusher said while Riker continued to say that they were running diagnostics on the transporters. However, he added, the other ships in orbit also were unable to teleport them up.

"There are at least three Hellmouths," Amara said, 'the one in Sunnydale is the oldest and most powerful." She then turned to Josie, "we're opening the portal now and there'll be a team of witches and support personnel waiting for you."

"Witches?" Crusher waved her arms while exclaiming.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound. Josie looked around at her living room and noticed that the books on her shelves in the living room were shaking. She then turned to Picard and asked, "did you guys feel that?" Before anyone could answer, Amara whispered, "oh my God." She then leaned forward and yelled into the screen, "Josie, all of you, hold onto something!" there was the distant sound of a loud boom, followed by a jolt that had the building itself groan while shaking. This time, Josie and the others tried to keep their balance- Crusher held onto Picard who held onto the top of the couch. In the meantime, Data had his arms spread out as he stumbled back slightly while he tried to keep himself balanced. Josie glanced at the screen and saw that Amara was yelling at something she couldn't hear over the loud groans and rumbles that were shaking the building.

In fact, the entire city of Sunnydale was shaking.

And then just as the lights in the apartment started to flicker while the computer was gently reminding Josie to seek shelter, the shaking stopped. All in all, the trembling lasted for two minutes… but it felt like hours. Josie looked around before turning towards the screen and ordering the computer to re-establish a connection with the Devon Coven.

"An Earthquake? We should have received a warning from the geological sensors around…"

"It wasn't an ordinary Earthquake," Josie whispered turning her head once she noticed something strange outside her living room window. Where once it was bright, now darkness seemed to spread from one end to another. Josie rushed to her window and stared out at the sudden night, "no… no…"

Josie then turned, "computer! Reconnect me with Miss Amara in Devon!"

"Number One, what's going on up there?" the Captain said while the Computer, in response to Josie, responded that a connection was being established. However, the Captain was unable to reach the Enterprise or any of the other ships in orbit. In the meantime, Crusher and Data rushed out to the apartment door and then down the stairs to outside the building to see with their own eyes what was happening. It was at this point that Amara's concerned face returned to the screen- resulting in a relieved Josie.

"Josie, Josie," she said while in the background people were running about, some yelling over the others, "are you alright?"

"What's happening?" Josie asked with worry. She hoped what was happening was what she thought was happening- she hoped that they weren't too late and that this meant the seals were broken. Josie looked over at Picard who shook his head before saying he couldn't reach any of the ships in orbit. He then continued on to say that he would contact Starfleet Command directly. Josie nodded her head before turning to Amara who confirmed her very fears.

"The seals have been broken," Amara said to a worried Josie, "we've already sent a message to the other Slayers in Pegasus. But we don't know how long it would take for them to get here."

While Josie was speaking to Amara, Picard was getting an update from Starfleet Command, "we're getting reports of dense cloud cover all over the planet, Captain. We've checked and re-checked the orbital weather satellites and the weather stations on Earth for any unusual readings but… well… we're getting nothing unusual. This… whatever this is? It's not supposed to be happening. And..."

"And?" Picard asked the male voice while he looked back at the worried expression on Josie's face.

"We've lost all connection to the satellite's in orbit, sir," was the reply, "but we have no readings that indicate a disruption in subspace communications. We simply lost all connections o our orbital platforms."

"And ships?"

"It's the same, Captain, we can't contact any of the vessels that are in orbit."

"Captain!" yelled Crusher with a look of disbelief on her face as she rushed back into the apartment with Data close behind. The latter's face showed an expression of curiosity as he turned towards Josie while Crusher was saying, "we've see clouds spontaneously forming in the sky. It's dark outside but the areas were there's light is… well… covered. The… I…." the stunned Doctor stuttered, "I don't know what's happening."

"We've lost contact with the Enterprise and the other ships in orbit as well," Picard added.

"The seals have been broken," Josie said before everyone turned towards her.

"What you're seeing is a manifestation of the evil energy that has been trapped in the Hellmouth for the past three hundred years being released in one fell swoop," Amara said shaking her head, "now… now comes…"

"The end," a voice said. Josie turned sharply towards the sudden appearance of a young boy, about twelve years old, standing in the living room. Crusher and the others turned towards the boy as well, with Picard having his eyes opened wide in shock before he gasped a name.

"Rene."

"Hello, uncle," the boy replied with an innocent smile on his face while the others stared at Picard and then at Josie. "It is truly good to see you once again."

"Captain," Crusher whispered as Josie slowly inched towards the case, "I thought you told me your nephew's family died in a fire?" Upon hearing that, josie paused as she reached for the case and stared at the boy, and then at Picard, and then at the boy once again with a look of worry.

"He did die," Picard whispered starting at Rene.

"Fascinating," Data said taking out his tricorder and activating it before scanning Rene', "I detected nothing unusual around this manifestation of the boy."

"Who.. who are you?" Picard whispered, "my nephew died, and…." He rolled his hands into fists before hissing, "who are you to take on my nephew's face? Are you responsible for what's happening outside? What planet are you from? Where…"

"Oh Uncle," the boy sneered now, "I am Rene. I am your nephew. Don't you remember promising to show me the stars?"

"I… I…" Picard whispered in disbelief.

"Captain," Josie said, "that is not your nephew. Do not…."

"You wat to know how I died, uncle?" the boy interjected while staring at Picard, and then at Crusher, and then at Data, and back to Picard, "I was sleeping when smoke filled the room. I remember being unable to breathe while I struggle to call out for mother and father." The boy stepped forward as Picard closed his eyes while Data walked around the bald man and stood in front of him protectively, "even after I lost consciousness, I could still feel. I felt the fire approach me, I felt…" Picard opened his eyes upon hearing a terrified gasp from Crusher. And what he saw made his want to vomit- Rene stood there with a smile on his face as his skin started to peel off, one of his eyes started to melt while other parts of his skin blistered, "this is how I died. And where were you, Uncle? Traveling to distant worlds, enjoying yourself…"

"I was…."

"Meeting new races while father, mother, and I suffered?" he whispered as more skin peeled ad then turned purple, "but don't worry, we're all here, Uncle."

"We?" Data asked while Josie opened the case and took out the Slayer Scythe.

"We're all part of the First Evil," the boy standing there morphed into a dark haired man in a Starfleet uniform, a man that Josie noticed made Picard and Crusher gasp- the later placing her hand over her mouth while her eyes widened.

"Jack," she whispered in a muffled voice.

"Hello Beverly," the man called Jack said, "don't worry sweetheart, we'll be together again."

"Leave," Josie said holding onto the shaft of the Scythe.

"You'll join me soon, Slayer," the First said before stepping back and turning its head towards the others, "except for the robot, all of you will be with the First very soon."

"How is that possible," Data sked curiously.

"After you die," Josie said as Picard and Crusher turned their heads towards her, "before she left, Miss Summers told me and the others about you." Upon hearing that, the First smiled.

"The end is here, the Hellmouth's seals are broken, and my legion is going to rise out of the Hellmouth," the First chuckled as the man called Jack started to vanished, his image turning inside out while he continued to speak and Crusher shook her head while Picard held on to her, "the skies will block out the light, rivers will run with blood, the seas and the oceans will boil, and the dead will rise to claim the living. The things that live in darkness will take over the Earth. And when the balance is tipped to evil… I will gain physical form and feed on the evil of every being that walks the Earth."

The image of the man became a great hooded horned demon that roared, forcing a yell of terror from Crusher while the others stepped back. The demon then vanished, leaving the four of them in the living room.

"The war is here," Josie said looking at Picard and the others, "all of us need to fight. We need to hold the planet until help arrives."

"What do we have to do?" Picard asked holding onto the tearful Crusher.

**Enterprise, now.**

While Guinan was about to tell Riker and Troi about her time on Earth in the early 1900's as they waited for the Captain, Troi looked over to the left towards the door leading back to the bridge. She felt a chill going through her spine before she turned to Guinan who suddenly stopped talking once she mentioned a trip to California. The two of them stared at each other with fear etched on their faces.

"I felt something like this before, I…"

"Commander Riker to the bridge, Commander Roker to the Bridge." Troi noticed the worry in the Operations officer's voice as he interrupted Guinan, who was about to state that she had experienced similar feelings of fear when she travelled to the City of Sunnydale, before she turned to Riker.

"Will, something's very wrong," Troi said.

Riker nodded his head before the three of them exited the Captain's ready room and stepped into the bridge. It was then that Troi felt a rush of emotions from the bridge crew, as well as the emotions from the nearby ships still orbiting the planet below. She felt goosebumps on her skin as she, Riker, Guinan, and hundreds of other crew all over the Enterprise watched helplessly as a dark greyish-red cloud covered the entire Western seaboard of the United states.

And the cloud cover was spreading rapidly.

"Get me the Away Team!" the Commander ordered.

**Voyager, now.**

Janeway was in her Ready Room recording her daily personal log when she was suddenly called to the Bridge by the newly promoted Lt. Harry Kim, who was still manning the Operations Console. Janeway muttered, "I'm coming," before she ended her log and got off her seat. She walked around her table and glanced at the blue planet below as she reached the door.

It hissed open to a view that surprised her. Janeway walked out to find Chakotay, Kim, and several other Bridge crew who were staring out the viewscreen with looks of confusion on their faces. Curious, she glanced at Tuvok who had an expression that she thought she would never see, one of abject fear.

"Tuvok?" Janeway asked. He glanced back at her and then at the viewscreen behind her.

"Kathryn," Chakotay whispered while still staring out at the screen. Janeway turned and gasped. The entirety of North America and parts of the Pacific Ocean... and it was growing, "we've tried contacting Starfleet Command, but our signal isn't going through."

"What?" Janeway asked while staring at the screen as a feeling of dread at watching the dark grey-reddish clouds spread. To her, the clouds seemed as if it was unnatural… something that was supposed to be feared. Janeway then registered what Chakotay said, and she ordered that they boost the signal. "Anything?" she asked after the signal was boosted.

"No, ma'am," Kim said.

"Tactical… Tuvok, what's going on?" Janeway asked turning around to face the tactical station.

"I.. I am receiving no readings of the event, Captain," Tuvok said, composing himself, as he grabbed the edges of either side of his console, "but I… I feel…"

"Tuvok?" Janeway asked as she turned back and stared ta the Vulcan in surprise, "what do you feel?"

"Terrified," was the response much to everyone's surprise. Well, it wasn't a surprise since they themselves were feeling scared for a reason they couldn't fathom- but it was the fact that Tuvok, a Vulcan, was scared- that unnerved all of them. Janeway turned back around to watch as the cloud started to cover Florida, and then Cuba.

"Keep on trying to contact Starfleet Command," Janeway ordered, "and get me Captain Picard on the Enterprise."

**Outside Sunnydale, now.**

Professor Karen Atkins was a researcher specialising in archaeology at Starfleet Academy when she received a call to join an expedition to examine a vast underground network of caves and caverns in Sunnydale. If was after much surveying that the team discovered a location where the walls between a small cavern in the underground network and the surface, specifically a medium sized cavern beneath one of Sunnydale's power distribution centers.

The team had to dig through the surface to get to the cavern, and once they entered, the Professor discovered the walls had symbols and patterns etched on them. She was the lead, and as such she ordered the removal of the patterns and symbols on the walls so that she and several of the other team members could examine them on the surface.

Then, through the hole that was created thanks to drilling phasers mounted on a shuttle craft, another drilling phaser was teleported down to the cavern before work commenced on the wall. In the meantime, she and her team examined the markings and patterns with no luck. But the search continued through every database on Earth, including those concerning the occult- at least what remained of any occult related materials that were not destroyed in World War Three.

It would be just as a thin layer of the subterranean wall remained that Karen opened her eyes wide as the computer came up with a few matching patterns.

"Sealed… protection… keep in…." she whispered to herself before hearing the drilling phaser behind her deactivate and some of the other scientists cheer. 'They must have drilled through the wall,' Atkins thought as she stared at the final pattern and its translation, "danger." Atkins turned around on her seat and opened her eyes wide open at the screams erupting from behind her. "No," she whispered as pale skinned, yellow eyed creatures from the smoking hole created by the drilling phasers leapt out. They took down several of the scientists and some of the Security personnel. Atkins watched in horror as the cratures roared before revelings fangs and biting into them. She got off her seat and rushed off with several others while she pressed down on the Starfleet Academy badge on her chest.

She tapped on it, but bef reo she could say anything, she screamed as one of the creatures leapt onto her back and brought her down to the ard floor.

"Help!" she screamed as a hiss erupted from her communicator, a sign that there was no connection to the surface. The next thing she knew, her head was slammed against the dirty covered floor before she felt two sharp prinks on her neck. And soon, her body started t become cold before darkness took over.

TBC.


End file.
